Love Song Requiem
by Tales from a Teacup
Summary: Bucky is placed within the Avengers Initiate Facility after being found by Captain America. He wants nothing more but to be alone and away from the life around him. His painful memories of his assassin assignments come creeping back into his mind but one member seems to give him peace. Can Sheila get through to him before he goes into a breakdown from his guilt? [BBxOC]
1. The New Member

Sheila woke up from the sunlight peeking through her curtains. She moaned and turned around to the other side and tried to sleep some more. The light had bothered her so much that it felt nearly impossible to go back to sleep, now that she knows it's already morning. She sighed and laid on her back as she stared up at the ceiling. She wasn't in her apartment back in Texas, she was in the Avengers Initiate's building. This was only her 6th day at the facility.

Sheila slowly got up out of her bed and pulled on her black robe that she sprawled out on the end of the bed the night before. She was sent here by S.H.I.E.L.D. after displaying "special abilities", which she's been trying to hide for nearly 10 years. Back when she was in college, when she wanted to pursue science, there was a chemical reaction which splashed not only into her eyes but down her throat as well, while she was screaming of course. After that, Sheila was able to create sound waves with not only her voice but with other sounds as well, and her second ability was she was able to see in the dark; night vision. Which is of course why the morning light and evening sun bother her from being so bright in contrast to her eyes.

A knock came from her door, "Miss Hallisy. Breakfast is ready downstairs. Are you up to eating in the dining room or do you want me to bring it to you? Captain America has touched base with us. He is coming soon"

"I will go downstairs then" Sheila opened her door to find a woman standing there, "Thank you"

"You're welcome" she smiled and proceeded to walk away.

"Good morning" a voice said from down the hall.

"Hi, Sam" Sheila smiled as she walked side by side with him, "Did Captain tell you anything? Wasn't he supposed to be here a couple of days ago?"

"Not really, but I have a hunch on who might be tagging along with him" Sam slapped Sheila in her back, "You'll love him"

"If he already touched base at the facility then he must be close by" Sheila, "At least an hour and forty minutes out approximately"

"What text did you swallow last night?" Sam responded.

Sheila couldn't help but smile and shake her head at Sam's joke as they both came into the dining room to see a brunette already eating her food. She glanced over and said a polite good morning in her first language, something they both were accustomed to with Wanda. Sheila sat down in front of her as Sam sat next to Wanda. She had just barely got food onto her plate when a man came in, drawing the trio's attention to him.

"Good morning, everyone" Steve Rogers greeted.

Sheila glanced behind him to a man who was slinking behind Captain America, his hair drawn around him like a curtain. He almost was as physically muscular as Captain America but she also noticed his left arm was missing and was replaced with a metal one instead. He didn't even try to glance up and look at the other initiates.

"I see we have ourselves a new member" Sam said as he tried to take the tension off of what settled in the room.

Cap turned around and waved for the man to join them, the man slowly walked over to where Steve was standing and lifted his head up for once. Behind his brown hair, she could see a set of blue-grey eyes staring down at the table.

"This is James Buchanan Barnes" Captain looked over to the man, "He is my best friend from before World War II"

"How is that possible?" Wanda finally spoke up.

"We will discuss that later" Captain said, "When it's okay to talk about these things"

"Is he going to be a new member?" Sam asked from his seat.

"If he wants to" Captain mentioned.

"Then what is he doing here if he is taking this as an option?" Wanda asked.

" _Wanda!"_ Sam, Steve, and Sheila scolded her.

"It was just a question. I just wanted to know" Wanda glared at everyone.

"He needs protection. Also, I feel like he needs to adjust to this time little by little" Captain spoke up, "His known a few things around this time, more than me but I feel like we need to make sure that the enemy is fully defeated . Also to give him time to reconnect, heal, and potentially become comfortable working with a team"

"I'm alright with it" Sam spoke up, "I already got a list for Cap to catch up on. I can give it to James here if he wants it"

"Another list?" Captain looked over to Sam.

"Yup, and another one in process" Sam smiled.

"Is there another name you would like to go by?" Sheila asked, the man standing next to Steve, "Some people like nicknames and you didn't tell us if you were comfortable with being called James"

The man looked over to her for the first time, bewildered that someone even noticed him, he glanced at Captain, "What was the name you called me the first time we met?"

"Bucky" Steve said, with a little bit of hurt in his voice.

"That name will work" Bucky answered Sheila.

"I thought you didn't want to come" Sam said to Bucky, "Last time I checked, you still owe me a wing"

"Steve can be very convincing" Bucky mumbled.

"Steve and Bucky fought it out" Wanda replied, "Steve didn't want to but this Bucky here was is still impulsive. They eventually got tired and Steve promised to leave him alone if he stays at least four months here with us"

" _Wanda!"_ the three said again.

"I was curious and so were the both of you" Wanda pointed her fork in both Sam's and Sheila's direction.

Sheila rolled her eyes, of course she was curious but she was also patient as well. Now that she glanced over to the two standing by the entry, she could see bruises healing on Captain's face and a fresh scrape on Bucky's head. From the looks of their body build, they put on a pretty good fight. She wondered if Steve was going to try and make Bucky their leader instead of him. Maybe that's the reason why she wanted him to stay? Other than Bucky being Steve's last piece missing from back in his own time.

"She's a telepath" Bucky stated.

"Among other things… like annoying" Sam teased.

Wanda hissed, making Sam's hard-boiled egg pop on his plate, Steve pointed a finger at Wanda, "What did I say about using magic at the table?"

"I'm sorry" Bucky spoke up, catching everyone's attention, "But I would like to go to my room now"

Captain hesitated a moment before he finally agreed and showed Bucky the way to the stairs. Sam, Sheila, and Wanda all sleep in the same hall so no doubt Bucky will be put there as well. She glanced around the table and noticed that both Sam and Wanda were wearing the same expression as she was. They knew how much Bucky meant to Steve but with his memories gone, it was difficult for Bucky to even feel the slightest connection that Steve does. Sheila sighed as she straightened up and started to play with her sunny-side up eggs, not really hungry at the moment.

"He has a long and difficult road ahead of him" Wanda broke the silence.

Sheila glanced up and for once she and Sam didn't scold her about using her powers without someone's permission. Instead, Sheila looked to Sam who only pursed his lips as if in agreement. Wanda was right but maybe she could help Bucky in perhaps healing from his battle wounds. But judging on how banged up Steve and Bucky looked, she highly doubted that Bucky even wanted to be here in the first place.

"We'll help him through it" Sheila finally answered, "As a team"


	2. Childhood Friend

The woman threw a punch as Sheila moved back quickly, not realizing that it was a fake blow. The moment she noticed, she was quick enough to hop up and block the kick that was meant for her side but it was deflected by Sheila's leg. Sheila flipped and she felt her foot connect with the woman's nose. She did a roundhouse kick to the woman, making her fall onto a landbar. Sheila moved over to her but the woman used both of her feet to kick Sheila away from her. Sheila moved back only a little bit but it was enough to make the woman regain her ground, punch Sheila in the stomach, and flip her over her shoulder making the ground collide with her back and take the wind out of her.

"You did it again" Captain's voice said from the ringside.

"I can't help it" Sheila wheezed as she stayed frozen in place, "I can't think and fight at the same time"

Steve motioned for the two women to continue fighting once again. The woman brought up her leg and slammed it down in the direction of her face but Sheila had already gotten up to her feet before it landed on the ground. Sheila quickly punched the woman twice in her face, the woman hit her on the side but the adrenaline had already picked up as Sheila could barely feel it. Sheila put all of her frustration into one punch, kicked the woman back, and then jumped up and kicked her in the chest to send her a couple of feet away from Sheila. She ran toward the woman crouching down, kicking her in the back of the leg but the woman was ready as she quickly straightened up and punched Sheila in the nose.

"Clear your mind" Captain commentated.

"I'm trying to" Sheila groaned, "Just when someone starts throwing punches at me, I just shut down"

"It takes a while to get used to. Your survival skills set in before your logical ones" Captain told her.

"I've gotten out of plenty of fights before having to think with strategy" Sheila couldn't help but say.

"That was before you had been called upon to be entrusted to save your country from dangers such as Loki and Ultron" Steve retorted back.

The woman tried hit Sheila above the head but she deflected it twice making the woman's midbody completely open. Sheila put in a couple of punches before she kneed the woman down to her own set of knees. Sheila brought up her knee and connected it with the woman's nose. Blood started to gush out of the sparring partner's nose as Sheila wrapped her arm around the woman's ribcage and throw her over her shoulder to make the woman land on her back just like how Sheila did a moment ago.

"That's enough" Steve said in a stern voice, "We're done for the day"

"Are you kidding me?" Sheila turned to her instructor.

"No, I'm not" Steve stepped onto the sparring mat as he nodded to the other woman, "You're excused Jennifer. Thank you"

"Don't mention it" Jennifer said like as if she meant it.

Sheila walked over and helped Jennifer up as they both gave each other a nod before she left. Sheila placed her hands on top of her hips and looked over to Steve as he waited for her explanation. He always wants someone to explain themselves as to why he told them to stop.

She huffed as she walked over to her water bottle just off to the side, she already knew what information Steve wanted her to say. It's been her problem since day 1.

"If I hadn't had stopped that fight, you would've seriously injured her" Steve said, "We are impulsive by nature thanks to our survival instincts. But you also have to remember that you are in a team and Sam or Wanda could be in the other room getting beaten to death while you are busy doing the same"

"Rome wasn't built in a day" Sheila mumbled.

"But it was destroyed over night" Steve finished, making Sheila look up to him.

"I'm sorry" Sheila said.

"Don't be" Steve sighed as he sat down next to her, "You're not the worst student I had"

"I know you're trying to say that to cheer me up" Sheila said pointedly.

"I hope it's working. I'm not too good with counseling anyone out of a bad mood" Steve mocked.

"To spare you the embarrassment, I will just say I'm alright" Sheila smiled.

"Thank God" Steve slapped his hand over his chest.

"Isn't Wanda up next?" Sheila asked, "Shouldn't I leave?"

"Not yet. I need to spare both my body and her partner's too… when she gets in the moment she tends to throw things across the room" Steve informed.

Almost as if on cue, Wanda burst in through the room with her gloves already on as her partner came in almost twice as more padded than Sheila's partner.

"I should take my leave!" Sheila got up and walked out of the room.

"I've been waiting for this all day" Wanda smiled as she quickly got to the mat, "I think I got the hang of it"

A man was waiting for Sheila outside saying, "Cap, was right. You were not only impulsive in your moves but it also showed that you were afraid"

"Could you blame me?" Sheila snapped back.

"Are you still mad at me?" the man rolled his eyes.

"How would you feel if I sold you out, Clint?" Sheila suggested, "I thought you would keep my secret when you found out"

"I was only doing this for your own benefit. Sam says you're fitting in quite well with everyone here" Clint motioned down the hall, "I thought you would be thanking me. You were saving people with your abilities the last time I saw you.I just gave you more of a nudge out of the door"

"More like a kick out of it. Maybe next time I'll say thank you" Sheila told him, "For now, I'm still working on holding a grudge on you. And by the way, that was out of pure instinct!"

"My apologies" Clint waved his hands in the air.

"I guess it kind of makes the joke on me" Sheila dabbed a napkin onto the corner of her lip.

"Oh, yes! Who would've known that your childhood friend was the infamous Hawkeye" Clint smiled, "Even with the nosey news reporters everywhere you still didn't recognize me on television"

"Don't start that again. I hate whenever you rub that in my face" Sheila mumbled as she walked down the hallway, "What brings you here anyways? I thought you were retired or something like that"

"I'm used to moving around so could you blame me for wanting to come around and check up on you?" Clint shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Does your wife know?" Sheila questioned.

"Oh, right… If she calls your cell can you tell her I'm in Modesto, California with a bunch of our high school friends?" Clint asked.

Sheila laughed, "She will be pissed if she finds out you came here"

"She gave birth eight months ago so now nothing will be holding her back if she ever finds out" Clint mumbled.

"How are the children?" Sheila asked.

"Great!" Clint let out with an automatic smile on his face, "They still ask about you"

"Do you tell them I'm in Modesto as well?" Sheila joked.

"More like still in Texas" Clint draped his arm around her shoulder, "How do you like the big guy?"

"He's a leader alright" Sheila nodded at Clint's reference to Steve Rogers.

"You're learning from the best, you know?" Clint reminded her, "How's his friend? I didn't see him when I was looking around"

"That's because he's been doing nothing but staying in his room all day" Sheila told him, "Hasn't even come out to wander around yet"

"Natasha was like that" Clint said, "She stayed in her room for nearly 20 days when she first arrived. I thought she was starving herself to death but turns out she was using her stealth to move in and out of the kitchen. Just give him time and he'll come around"

"You should probably relay that message to the Cap" Sheila looked up to him, "Seems like he's still expecting him to be in his shadow. Problem is, Bucky still doesn't remember how much Cap loves him"

"You don't want to know what HYDRA makes people do" Clint shook his head, "Promise me that you won't look into it. If you ever hear someone saying they need help defeating HYDRA, you turn the other way… I don't want you to get hurt"

Sheila nodded, "If it means that much to you, then I'll avoid it"

Clint smiled and placed his lips on top of her head and gave it a warming kiss. Sheila smiled up to her childhood friend as she knew that if Clint ever showed his protective side to her, it was for a damn good reason.


	3. PTSD

Later that night, Sheila was walking back to her room after she took a little night swim to relieve the ache in her muscles. She walked by a room and noticed that she heard something from behind one of the doors. She furrowed her brow, walked back a little bit, and stood next to the door on the left. It sounded like a grunting sound or close to a stifled moan. Sheila was about to raise her fist up to knock on the door when she realized that this was the room Bucky was assigned to. Her hand froze in place as she listened to the man let out a painful moan once more. She checked her watch and noticed that it was 40 minutes past midnight. Bucky must've been having a nightmare, from the sounds of it, a very terrifying one. Still, Sheila backed away and walked down the hallway to her own room.

Inside the room, Bucky was covered in sweat despite having only a loose sheet on himself. He gripped onto the pillow as he buried his face deeper into it as tears streamed down his face. He was starting to hyperventilate as he tossed himself around the bed as images continued to appear inside his head. He could see people running, screaming as they saw him walking down the hallway. Even though he willed himself not to in the dream, the gun still aimed at anyone who moved, fired, and made people collapse in a pool of blood.

 _ **1988, Constanta, Romania**_

" _O, Doamne!" someone screamed out. (Oh, my god)_

" _Opreste-te!" a man yelled in a big voice. (stand down)_

" _Nu face parte din misiunea mea. Asasinarea este" the Winter Soldier said through the mask as he aimed his gun at the man and fired. (Not part of my mission. Assassination is)_

" _Aproape la presedinte_. _" one of the HYDRA soldiers said through his radio, "Soldatul de iarna mai are de urcat un etaj" (Almost to the president. The Winter Soldier has one more floor to go)_

" _Cum este el?" a man could be heard through the static. (How is he?)_

" _Toata lumea in verdere uciderea" the soldier said with a wicked smile on his face. (Killing everyone in sight)_

 _The Winter Soldier saw an officer come out of a room in which he tackled the man to the wall and punched him with his metal arm. The man let out a painful moan as the Winter Soldier pulled back his arm and made it fall into a sickening crack. The man screamed and pleaded for his arm to be released but he only took out his knife and stabbed him behind the shoulder blade. He let it out and pushed the man back and stabbed him in the stomach repeatedly over and over again until he could only hear squishing sounds upon impact. The Winter Soldier watched as the man dropped down to the ground as he continued to stare at him. He looked down to both his hands and felt them both warm and thick with blood._

Bucky let out a horrendous scream as he sat up from his bed, gasping in the darkness. It took him a while to remember how he got a room such as like this when he's been hiding for months in cheap motels. He could feel his head reeling from lack of sleep, his throat dry from most likely screaming, and his stomach felt weak like as if he was about to puke.

He glanced back to the clock and started to obsessively count backwards. He was only asleep for an hour and forty minutes. He let out a frustrated sigh as he picked up the other pillow and placed it behind his neck as he laid back down. Bucky glanced to both his metal and his human hand as he could still feel the blood on them. He knew that this was no mere nightmare, it was one of his memories.

He took in a shaky breath as he glanced back over to the moon outside. It was no use in trying to go to sleep now.

Bucky has tried to go to sleep whenever a memory popped back into his head but it either cause the memory to replay or have Bucky not sleep at all, according to the extent of how horrific the dream was. In this case, Bucky didn't want to relive the nightmare anymore.

Bucky slowly got up from his bed and walked over to his small duffel bag. He owned a very few select of items that didn't even fill up the duffel bag to full capacity. He slowly lifted it up and burrowed his hand deeper into the bag until he took out a notebook.

The notebook was originally stolen so that whenever Bucky had a memory, he would write it down. But the more memories that come back, the more traumatized that memory was. So instead, he uses it to write down things that keeps himself occupied of his past; short stories.

Bucky sprawled out on the bed, opened up the book and re-read where he last left off before he picked up a pencil and started to add on to the story. Story-writing has become one of the very few things he became fond of and wondered if this was his own doing or the past Bucky's hobby re-emerging into his life.

* * *

The next day, Sheila walked through the kitchen to see what kind of food they had in store for the workers to eat. If she knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. would be giving them delicious meals three times a day, Sheila would've signed up a lot sooner. As much as she loved the variety, she wanted to stick with something close to home for lunch this time. Sheila noticed an egg sandwich and quickly picked it up and placed it onto her plate. Clint, on the other hand, was acting like he has never seen food before and was piling his food one on top of the other. Sheila rolled her eyes at her friend's behavior as she turned around to find a place to sit.

Sheila scanned the room but suddenly stopped when she noticed that Bucky Barnes was sitting by the window. She easily could pick him out just by the fact that he was the only person at his own table and the tables around him were empty. Her mind kept flashing back to the night before hearing him groan and cry out in his sleep. Now looking at him, she wondered if she should've made an attempt to make him snap out of it. His head hung lower than usual as he was absentmindedly playing with his food. She felt an overwhelming pity for the man alone.

Sheila noticed Clint walk around her and went to go sit down at a table. She let out a gasp as she noticed that he was heading straight toward Bucky's table. Sheila tried to run fast enough over to make Clint stop but he was already introducing himself when she was close enough. She stopped nervously as she scanned the room, looking for another place to sit down.

"Mind if we join you?" Clint asked.

"Alright" Bucky said.

"Great, this is Sheila, she's one of the initiate's as well, she was my choice to join the Avengers" Clint introduced Sheila as he sat down, making the only two options open for Sheila to sit next to Bucky or in front of him.

"I saw her yesterday morning" Bucky said as Sheila sat down in front of him, "I didn't catch her name before I left"

"Hey, everyone!" Steve sat down next to Bucky as he turned to his friend, "Glad you came out of your room"

"I couldn't stay in there" Bucky stated, "I didn't sleep that well last night"

Sheila glanced up from her sandwich as Steve looked at Bucky more closely, "How many hours of sleep did you get last night"

"Close to two hours" Bucky mumbled.

Clint and Steve exchanged a look before Clint said, "You know, Wanda's a telepath. She can probably help you sleep"

Bucky slightly jumped as he said in a louder voice, "I don't want people around my head again"

"Then we won't ask her to do it" Sheila quickly said before Steve could persuade his friend, "There are other ways to cure insomnia. I'm sure Sam has some few suggestions to block out post-traumatic stress disorder"

In an instant, all three boys locked eyes with Sheila as she realized what she just said, Clint nudged her, "He said he didn't sleep well, what made you think he has PTSD"

"I just…" Sheila mumbled as she glanced to Bucky who was staring at her, making her glanced down to her food, "I just thought that was what he was hinting. Being that he was with HYDRA for so long"

"He doesn't have any memories of that place" Steve glanced to Bucky, "Do you?"

"No" Bucky said keeping his eyes on Sheila.

"That's good then!" Sheila said in a high-pitched voice.

"It's just crazy how two years ago HYDRA was growing on SHIELD like a parasite" Clint shook his head.

Steve and Clint shared their set of choice words of the incident that happened as Sheila stole a glance over to Bucky. He was already staring at her with his bloodshot eyes, dissecting her. Sheila couldn't help but give a very small smile as she picked up her soda and drank out of it as she glanced over to Clint and Steve.

"Maybe the four of us should go out for a little walk after dinner tonight, the moon will be full and Bucky still hasn't seen the rest of the compound" Steve suggested.

"We already got plans" Clint turned to Sheila, "I promised to whip my friend's ass in a little one-on-one tonight"

"Here we go again" Sheila mumbled.

"As her teacher, I can't say no to that" Steve smiled to her, "Good luck then. Don't forgot to clear your mind. Clint always takes a step before he throws a punch"

"What the hell" Clint threw his hands up in the air.

"Very good to know" Sheila smiled, "I'll remember that for tonight"

She turned to her friend, "You're going down now"

"Thanks, Cap" Clint told his friend.

"Why don't you go see if Sam is up to fight you now?" Sheila suggested.

Clint scoffed, rolled his eyes and got up to leave as Steve and Sheila laughed at his back as he went to throw away his food.

 **A/N: I want to thank Helen delia for helping me translate some of the words into appropriate ways to speak Romanian! Thank you so much!**


	4. Bring Me Down

Clint flicked on the lights and walked into the training room, "I've been thinking of new things to practice with you. I've seen you fight in which, you seem to be getting the hang of it. This time I want to try something new"

"You mean ever since Captain told me your tell in fighting?" Sheila crossed her arms over her chest.

"No! Besides that" Clint turned around with a gun in his hand.

"What are you doing with that?" Sheila took a step back, "Clint, this isn't funny"

"Neither are missions" Clint said in his serious tone, "You were the last person that I wanted to be signed up for the Avengers but after your accident and the focus you showed on helping those people a couple of weeks ago, I had to give you a chance here. That doesn't mean that I won't worry about you on your first or any missions for that matter. Not until I know you're capable of outsmarting the enemy"

"So you're going to shoot me?" Sheila questioned, "Last time I checked, Hawkeye was the named you earned and not just a nickname you wanted to be called. What makes you think that I can outsmart a veteran like you?"

"Because you have your powers that will help you" Clint said before raising up his finger, "But you only get to use them on me when I'm telling you to!"

"And that will protect me from a bullet?" Sheila nodded to the gun.

Clint unloaded the gun to show a small dart, "Neurosim Darts. It will make you feel like you've been shot for about a minute or so"

"You could've told me that before you went on your speech about proving you wrong" Sheila relaxed her stance, "So you get to shoot me, and I get to use my abilities on you. Sounds painful for the both of us but I guess this was going to come up sometime in our friendship"

Clint shrugged and smiled, "I guess so"

"How long do we go for?" Sheila asked somewhat nervously.

Clint glanced up to the clock and sighed as he thought of a good time, then gave off a shrug and said, "20 minutes?"

"20 minutes?!" Sheila repeated.

"Mind you that they will go by fast" Clint smirked and raised his gun to her, "Starting… _now!_ "

* * *

 _ **1973, United States of America**_

 _The Winter Soldier paced the room, panting as he felt like as he tried to find some sort of equilibrium in his mind. Just at the door was a man shot and killed, his wife and his daughter didn't live that much after that. The woman was sprawled in the daughter's room with the daughter already shot and killed in her bed. The Winter Soldier picked up a picture of the three at some sort of lake as he tried to look for answers. He slammed it down onto the ground in frustration as he let out a yell. He looked around like a mad man as the yellow streetlights seemed to be the only things that were helping with the lighting._

" _Why is this place so familiar? What am I looking for?" The Winter Soldier yelled out to no one but himself._

 _He let out a frustrated yell as he threw a lamp across the room as his mind kept on spinning for answers. It felt like he forgot something that was so important to him just a moment ago. Nothing about this place seemed familiar to him so why did he not go to his point of destination after the job? Instead, his feet went automatically to this apartment and when he saw the man, he panicked and killed off the family. The Winter Soldier stopped by some mail and picked it up, leaving bloody marks where the point of destination was… Brooklyn, New York._

Bucky gasped as his eyes opened up as he stared into the darkness once more. Bucky stopped the timer on his wrist as he read that he was asleep for 3 hours and 20 minutes. He took in a shaky breath as he glanced around the room. Bucky glanced to the door and stopped his gaze as he noticed that the door was slightly open. Bucky knew for a fact that he had closed the door to his room before he went to sleep. It didn't take him long to know who had peeked into his room. He knew that if it was Steve Rogers, he would've came in and tried to stop the nightmare which only left one more person in mind.

Bucky let out a sigh as he got up and growled, "Sheila"

He walked down the hallway to the room that he knew she was living in and opened the door but stopped. Bucky noticed how peaceful she slept in her own dreams, how still she was and her breathing was slow and safe. Bucky let his stance subside as he knew he continued to watch the woman sleep, longing to have that kind of peace that she must be feeling.

"Why me?" he suddenly asked himself.

He felt an overwhelming sorrow for himself as he knew that if he opened up everyone's doors, he would be looking down at the same thing. Bucky's eyes became alert as he noticed that Sheila scrunched up her nose and groaned as she turned her back to the light. Bucky remembered how Steve stated that Sheila's eyes were sometimes sensitive to the light, he closed the door slowly as he lingered and watched as the brunette continued to sleep.


	5. Departure

Sheila sighed as she finally was able to take off the dark sunglasses that she's had on for what felt like 4 hours. She loved how the facility made it look like some sort of resort but did the place had to be made of 75% glass? She usually retreated back to her room whenever it was the evening hours but her growling stomach won her over this time. Sam was on the other end questioning why Steve and Clint were in the meeting room for nearly two hours now. Sheila couldn't help but wonder herself what was keeping those two cooped up in there and she could only wonder if it was a mission at hand. Wanda came rushing over to the table and sat down in front of Sheila and quickly bent her head closer to the other woman.

"He knows you were watching him" Wanda whispered.

"Who?" Sheila furrowed her brows together.

"Bucky knows you were watching him while he was having nightmares" Wanda informed her, "I saw it in his mind"

"You were watching him sleep?" Sam questioned, "That's a little bit too creepy… do you watch us sleep too?"

"He was making noise and I wanted to see if he was alright" Sheila explained herself.

"So then why didn't you wake him up?" Wanda asked.

"That would be stupid, if he's been portraying PTSD then he might have a gun or a knife under his pillow so keeping your distance would be the best option" Sam told the ladies.

"Here he comes" Wanda whispered.

"Wanda, why were you even peeking into his mind?" Sam questioned.

"Whenever I wake up that's when my senses are down so I can't help it whenever I read someone's mind or sense someone's emotion" Wanda hissed back to him.

Before Steve could question further, Bucky approached the table making all three sets of eyes look up to him as he said in a low voice, "Can I sit here?"

"Yes, you can!" Wanda waved her hand out as a seat next to Sheila moved out for Bucky to sit down on.

Sam chuckled as he brought his drink to his lips as Sheila glared at Wanda. The young adult didn't care, she straightened up as Bucky walked around the table to sit down next to Sheila who fumbled as she felt self-conscious of eating all of a sudden.

"About damn time" Sam suddenly said as Steve and Clint made their way over to the table.

"Sorry, guys. We need to talk" Steve said.

"We were called for a mission" Clint finished, "Austria is having some sort of trouble and the Avengers are needed there"

"You're leaving?" Wanda asked as she got up from her spot, eyes zeroed in on Clint, "But you've only just arrived"

"I will be back as soon as I can" Clint told her as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Sheila felt a faint smile cross her face as she was aware that Wanda looked up to Clint as a father figure to her, it was more comforting to know that her childhood friend gladly took on the role and treats the woman like a daughter as well.

"You know we can come with you" Sam gestured to everyone around the table, "We've all been under a mission before"

"Not yet" Steve objected, "This one seems too dangerous"

"You don't want us to go because it's too close to my home" Wanda turned to him, "I appreciate it but you can not coddle us forever"

"It was my decision" Clint said and that was when Wanda backed down.

"Just because we're gone doesn't mean that it's a vacation for everyone" Captain took charge.

"Figured you would say something like that" Sam huffed.

"I still want practice fights to go on, group critical thinking upon missions, and also training with weapons" Captain continued, "This is it. It's time that the four of you start turning to each other rather than Clint and I as your source of communication. It's not easy, I know. But you won't be able to be a better team without becoming friends first"

"Be careful" Wanda warned them, "The people over there are not too kind on Americans nowadays"

"That might be a little bit hard for Captain _America_ " Sam smirked, "Don't worry. When you come back we will have exchanged friendship bracelets"

"That won't be necessary" Sheila finally spoke up, "We'll be fine. Just don't get hurt or anything"

"We'll keep that in mind. Thank you" Captain smiled, "Right now I really could use a meal. Care to join me, Clint?"

"After I talk to Sheila alone" Clint waved his finger to the hallway.

"Sure" Sheila got up and followed him to the hallway and didn't stop until they were nearly at the end of the passage.

"I need to ask you a favor. It will mean a lot to me" Clint glanced down to the hall, "Keep an eye on Wanda, will you? She's going through a rough time and me returning to Eastern Europe will only make her more anxious"

"Don't worry, I will keep two eyes on her and enhance them at night" Sheila smiled.

Clint smiled too as the childhood friends chuckled in silence. A moment went by before Clint wrapped his arms around Sheila and squeezed her into a tight embrace. Sheila slammed her eyes shut as she took in a big breath as she tried to fill her senses with his scent. She didn't want Clint to go, not after nearly being close to death twice last year. Still, Sheila and Clint took a step back from their embrace as she hoped that worry wasn't written on her face. Clint gave her shoulder a squeeze as he smiled to her.

"That's my girl" Clint mumbled.

Sheila shrugged, "It's the least I could do for the 8 year old boy who found me with a broken collarbone. I would've died in that ditch if it wasn't for you"

"Don't remind me. I still thought you were an animal considering all the hollering you did in the middle of the day" Clint smiled.

"Does your wife know?" Sheila suddenly asked.

"Of course she does! We always talk about the first time we met" Clint scoffed, "She should be annoyed about that memory by now"

Sheila rolled her eyes, "I meant about the mission"

"Why do you think the meeting took so long?" Clint sighed, "She's very stubborn when it comes to keeping her family safe. That's one of the first things I fell in love with. I understand where she is coming from but I can't abandon my friends in this sort of task while I stay home and do nothing but remodel the house four times over"

"She'll understand" Sheila gripped onto his arm, "Wasn't it through a mission that you found her in the first place?"

Clint smiled, "She was a hostage"

"See?" Sheila nodded, "I'm sure she'll come around. She always does"

"I gotta go now" Clint sighed, "Still got to say my goodbyes to Wanda. I'm sure she's tapping into our minds right now"

"She has a tendency to do that" Sheila smirked.

"She's a very curious person. You'll learn to love that about her" Clint smiled.

"When are you leaving?" Sheila asked, "You make it sound like you're leaving by the next hour?"

"Midnight is the best chance for us" Clint said as he started walking down the hallway, "Make sure to stay up to watch me take off in a helicopter"

Sheila pulled her jacket back and looked down to her watch as it read **8:16 pm**. She took in a sharp intake of breath as her stomach sunk down to the floor. It was four hours but still, it felt like she had under a minute to spare with her best friend. Sheila started to walk back to the Dining Hall when suddenly she stopped frozen in place. Bucky Barnes was standing not too far from her as it looked like he was waiting for her to notice him.

"Hi" Sheila said in a high-tone.

"I know you were watching me last night" Bucky started.

"Right, about that" Sheila remembered Wanda's warning to her a moment ago.

"Why were you watching me?" Bucky asked.

"You were making noises" Sheila stammered, "I was concerned on whether or not you were having a nightmare or experiencing something traumatic"

"You've heard me before, haven't you?" Bucky questioned, "Before last night"

"Yes" Sheila admitted.

"The next time you just so happen to hear or see me in a nightmare again…" Sheila stiffened up as she waited for him to scold her. So much for becoming teammates when on the very first night alone with him he is going to threaten her, "Wake me up"

Sheila blinked and looked up to him, "What?"

"Wake me up whenever you find that I'm in a nightmare" Bucky said in a lower voice, "As much as I want to find out who the other Bucky is, my mind is opening up the memories that are the closest to this time"

"All of HYDRA's tasks for you" Sheila whispered.

"I don't want to relive those memories" Bucky admitted.

"I will do my best to wake you up from them" Sheila told him, "I promise, Bucky"

Bucky gave her a hint of a smile as he turned back to the Dining Hall, "Thank you"


	6. Alone

"That was uncalled for!" the man shouted to Sheila the next day.

Sheila rolled her eyes as she backed up from the man that she was assigned to spar with that day. Actually, they should be practicing but every time Sheila threw a punch or a kick to her opponent he would say "that's not what you were taught!" over and over again. She glanced to the clock and noticed that her time in the ring was almost up. Usually she would leave feeling sticky with sweat and a tad bit sore but she just felt more and more pissed off that she wasn't going to get anywhere near that feeling today. Sheila had kept her mouth shut ever since her time started but now this was getting ridiculous. This time, she was going to fight back.

"I'm not trying to hurt you if that's what you're so scared of" Sheila snapped back.

The man glared, "You think I'm scared of you"

"Then maybe you should stop backing out of the ring everytime I try to attack you" Sheila said in a slower tone as if he was a little toddler, "If you wanted a life full of safety than maybe you should've asked to work in one of SHIELD's cubicle sections"

"I could kill you in six seconds if I wanted to, little girl" the man growled.

"Then by all means… try" Sheila waved out her hands so her whole body was open to him, "I'd love to see that happen"

"You're not worth my time" the man waved her off and walked over to the door.

Sheila glared to the retreating man and then yelled out, " _ **FINE!"**_

The words echoed around the room as her power used the pent up frustration to its advantage. Before she could even control the soundwaves, it hit the man square in the back and sent him flying over to the bo staff rack all lined up against the wall. The door suddenly opened as Sam Wilson and another agent came in to see what was going on. The man ran over to help her partner on the floor as Sheila cupped her mouth and stayed frozen in place. Sam glanced over to her and walked over to Sheila as the two agents left the room.

"He provoked you?" Sam inquired.

"It was my fault" Sheila mumbled, "Captain told me to make sure to not lose control"

"Don't worry, it's not just you" Sam sighed, "Seems like everyone here is just being a pain in the ass today"

Sheila looked up to him, "I'm glad to know I'm not alone in this special kind of treatment"

* * *

Sheila stirred as she felt one hand warm and soft on one arm and the other felt cool and hard, she opened her as and gasped when she realized that it was hands constricting her and shaking her awake. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness of the room and she realized it was Bucky shaking her awake. She relaxed a little as she sat up and Bucky released his hold on her.

Sheila asked, "What is it? Was I dreaming or something?"

"No… but it does feel like it" Bucky said in a low voice.

"What are you talking about?" Sheila narrowed her eyes.

"Come with me, there's something I want you to see" Bucky got up from the bed.

"Alright" Sheila slowly got up and grabbed her robe.

Bucky was right about the feeling of being left in a dream. Sheila followed him around the compound for a while. She was about to ask him what he was planning on showing her but then her mind snapped out of its daze and went into shock. The facility was completely quiet with no one but the other two walking around as some form of life. The place used to be crawling with agents 24 hours of the day and 7 days a week. Now, it just looked like a ghost town or an abandoned fortress lost in its time.

"They left us" Bucky finally spoke up.

"But why?" Sheila asked but then she stopped when she remembered the day before and how she used her ability yesterday.

"Because of me" Bucky answered.

Sheila looked up to him, "What? Why are you blaming yourself?"

"Because I was HYDRA's secret weapon and ever since I came here the other agents have been dodging me like as if I still had a gun in my hand" Bucky explained.

"Well… It wasn't just you that made their decision to leave, trust me" Sheila sighed as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Your reputation isn't as bad as mine" Bucky waved her off.

Sheila was about to explain about why she might've been a reason why they left when her mouth formed into a yawn. She covered her mouth and then glanced to her watch and noticed that it read **5:59 am**. Her eyes nearly bulged out as she realized how early it was and then took a closer look at Bucky. His hair was somewhat wavy, his skin slightly moist, and she couldn't help to notice that he was breathing heavily still with a slight shake in his hands. The reason why he woke up this early was because he had another nightmare. Bucky turned and looked outside as he tried his best to keep his eyes away from hers.

"I'm sorry" Sheila apologized.

"For what?" Bucky asked through gritted teeth.

"I made a promise to wake you up if you had a bad dream" Sheila said, "I didn't keep my promise"

"There's nothing to be sorry for" Bucky turned back to her, "You should go back to sleep"

Sheila turned but then noticed that Bucky wasn't moving back to the dorms, "You aren't going back?"

"I can't sleep after dreams like that" Bucky shook his head.

"Then I will keep you company" Sheila turned back to him, "You woke me up to witness all of this so I want to stay awake until Sam and Wanda start to wake up"

"I came to your room to see if you had left me too" Bucky said, "Not to show you what happened with the other agents"

"I'm glad you checked up on me then" Sheila felt her heart flip and her cheeks burn.

"You should go back to bed" Bucky said again.

"I will, just once I figure out where you are planning on going" Sheila smiled.

Bucky turned and walked down the hallway, "Then join me in the lounge"

Agents usually go in there for some downtime in their work but it felt refreshing to see that it was empty for once. Bucky walked over to where a notebook was, opened it and started to fumble for the right page. Sheila walked over to the couch not that far from him, laid down and turned on the TV. Bucky glanced over to the woman sprawled out on the couch and wondered why she was so calm with him while everyone else was terrified of even looking at him. He smiled in her direction as he looked back down to his notebook and continued to write.


	7. Seed

"What are you writing in that notebook? Ever since we came in here you've been doing nothing but writing. Is it some sort of memory blog?" Sheila asked him 20 minutes later, "Maybe that's why you're having nightmares if you keep on writing them down"

"I don't want to talk about it" Bucky snapped suddenly.

"Sorry" Sheila mumbled, "I was just curious"

"It's private" Bucky replied.

"I can see that now. I won't ask about it again" Sheila sat up from her comfortable position.

"It's something I hold precious for myself" Bucky stated.

"You don't have to explain anymore" Sheila objected.

"Explain what?" a voice came from behind Sheila.

Sheila turned around to see Sam coming into the lounge, stretching out his legs. He was wearing shorts and a sweater as he was moving his limbs around to get them loose. Sheila was aware that Sam liked to go on runs around the time that dawn approaches. Sheila glanced out to the trees and the sky around them and noticed that they were turning a blue-grey. Sheila had left her dark shades in her room and knew she didn't have much time before the first rays would hurt her eyes. Sheila looked back to Sam who was stretching out his legs from side to side as he waited for someone to answer him back.

"Looks like the other SHIELD agent's had left us" Sheila changed the subject.

Sam stopped and looked around, "I thought something seemed off today. You took a look around and no one was here?"

"Even the computer room is empty" Bucky answered, "All line of defenses are on auto to assess for dangers coming to the facility"

"That was sweet of them" Sam sarcastically mimicked.

"So what happens now?" Sheila asked, "Who's going to teach us to critically think and practice fighting"

"Cap will have their heads when he gets back but for now I guess it's all up to us. Work as a team, right?" Sam shrugged.

"I like that idea" Bucky spoke up from his corner.

Sam and Sheila glanced over to Bucky who looked like as if he hadn't had moved a muscle and if they hadn't heard him speak, would be sure to know it wasn't him who had spoken up. Sheila glanced to Sam who also seemed impressed with the other man in the room. Sheila suddenly felt sick as she noticed that she wouldn't be able to teach anyone of her teammates anything that would benefit them. She glanced up to the sky and noticed the first signs of the sunrise was coming. Sheila got up and was about to walk out of the room.

"We'll decide on it once Wanda wakes up" Sam suggested, "Which is usually around 10 if you let her"

"Wouldn't she be upset if she sees that no one is here?" Bucky asked.

Actually, Sheila knew that Wanda would probably be the most ecstatic when it comes to how empty the place will be. Not only is she the youngest but Steve had assigned Wanda to grievance counseling in which Wanda despised telling some shrink all of her emotions. Sheila rubbed her eyes as she felt a slight strain on them. She had to get out, now!

"Nah, man! She's the youngest and with power like that she'll want to throw a house party" Sam joked.

"Where are you going?" Bucky asked as Sheila edged out of the room.

Sheila turned around to answer Bucky but the morning light had caught onto his arm and it was directed right to her eyes. She let out a yelp and covered her eyes as she felt a burning like sensation come to her vision. Sheila moaned as she moved to lean onto something as she felt a pair of hands grab onto her and move her away from where she wanted to lean.

Sam and Bucky were talking to her or talking to one another, Sheila wasn't sure. Her mind flashed back to the time when the chemical splashed into her eyes as she thought that the acid was eating away her eyeballs. Sheila tried her best not to cry as she knew that would only intensify the burning feeling.

"Here" came Sam's voice as something covered her eyes as both Sam and Bucky guided her through the halls and to the darkness of her room.

* * *

The next thing Sheila remembered was feeling something slowly lift off of her eyes and then being placed right back over them. To her right, she heard the sound of something squeezing out water as a smell of a warm, spicy-sweet aroma awakened her senses. She felt the old rag being lifted off and the new rag being placed on top of her eyes. Sheila tensed up, thinking that the new rag would burn her eyes but it actually wasn't that hot nor bothered the stinging sensation coming from her eyes. She relaxed as the person pressed the rag down softly onto her eyes as the smell of the new rag gave her a sense of being warm, cheery, and comforted. Sheila felt the hand disappear but the weight of their body next to her didn't move so she knew whoever was nurturing her was still beside her.

"Bucky?" Sheila guessed.

"Take another wild guess" came a Slovakian accent.

"Wanda" Sheila let out, "I thought you were asleep"

"It's 11:24 in the morning" Wanda answered, "Sam told me about what happened"

"It's 11:24!? I should be fine then" Sheila tried to get up but Wanda pushed her back down onto the bed again.

Sheila sighed as she knew Wanda was aware that she wasn't at her full strength yet. Usually the effects wear off around 4 hours but considering how this was the morning light that blinded her, it will take a lot longer to recover. Sheila wouldn't put it past her if Clint had warned Wanda if this would happen if he were gone. What surprised her the most was that Wanda was actually taking care of Sheila and not throwing her aside. She was grateful that the youngest member was looking out for her considering how she might've woken up alone if Wanda weren't around.

"Just rest for today. Whatever you want, I will get it for you" Wanda said.

"Thank you" Sheila smiled a bit.

"It's been awhile since I've done this… Pietro was always needed to look after even though he was older than I was" Wanda said with her voice slightly cracking at the word 'Pietro'.

"I figured you have done this before. What is this herb that you used?" Sheila asked, trying to get Wanda's mind off of Pietro as much as she could.

"It's an essential oil called Allspice Berry" Wanda replied, "It was Pietro's favorite"

Sheila felt suddenly guilty that Wanda was using his favorite spice on her. She should be saving it for rare times when she wants to remember him, not on someone who foolishly injured herself. Sheila was about to take the towel off when Wanda placed it back down over her eyes. She felt some form of energy take hold of her hand and made it go back down to her side.

"He would've wanted me to use it in this kind of situation" Wanda seemed to have read her mind.

Sheila took in a big inhale as she imagined a male version of Wanda giving her that advice and watching over her shoulder as she tended to Sheila. She wondered if Wanda ever felt the presence of his spirit as most people do when they lose someone dear to them. Sheila heard Wanda mixing the other rag with the bowl next to her as she softly sang a Slovakian lullaby and knew that the answer was yes.


	8. Trust

"Are you sure about this?" Wanda cautiously asked.

"Yes" Sheila answered, "Captain told us to practice, right? What better way then what state I'm in right now. As an Avenger I should still be able to fight even when I'm partially blinded"

"Which is why I think this is a terrible idea" Wanda stated.

"Come on, Wanda. I have my glasses on anyways" Sheila pleaded, "I can see you better than I did an hour ago. You can go easy on me if you want"

Wanda sighed, "If I get in trouble for this, budem nakopem prdel" [I will kick your ass]

Wanda brought up her leg and kicked Sheila in the stomach. The impact sent the wind out of her as Wanda punched the woman across the cheekbone, making sure to not hit the thick sunglasses. Wanda wrapped her arms around Sheila and tried to finish her fast with some sort of chokehold. Luckily for Sheila, Wanda was really light so lifting her off of her back came as no struggle at all. Sheila turned and kicked Wanda in the side on her ribs, making the smaller girl groan. Sheila moved in to capitalize on her move when Wanda dragged her down onto the mat and placed her knee on top of Sheila's throat.

"That is what you call easy?" Sheila asked from the ground.

"Not really" Wanda helped her up, "I thought about it but then thought that maybe I should just beat the crap out of you just to convince you that this was a bad idea. Why don't you ask Sam or Bucky to do this with you?"

"Because Bucky has a metal arm and Sam would go nonstop about WWSD" Sheila told her.

"WWSD? What in the hell does that mean?" Wanda scrunched up her nose, "You Americans always have to shorten everything down to complex nicknames. I refuse to guess what that means so why don't you just tell me already"

Sheila huffed out a laugh, "It means, _What Would Steve Do_ "

Wanda let out an even bigger laugh, "That's pretty funny! Also very true in his case"

"I made it up myself" Sheila grinned.

"Clever, I'll give you that" Wanda nodded, "Too bad there's no one left here to tell now that everyone's gone. I guess we'll just spread it around once they come back"

"I thought you would like it if the facility's empty" Sheila fixed her sunglasses, "No one to take orders from, no schedules to keep up, I thought this would be your paradise"

"It is" Wanda sighed, "I like it here even better now that I'm with the people that treat me as equals. I don't have to hear everyone's constant doubts about me"

"You too" Sheila rolled her eyes, "Even if I laugh people cover their ears"

"Better than people actively thinking that you're crazy even though they are aware that I can read their minds" Wanda mumbled.

Sheila sighed, "Maybe they left at the right time. Let's continue"

Wanda threw a punch at Sheila's jaw right after she finished that sentence. Sheila turned and deflected a blow that was supposed to be for her face and punched the girl in the ribs. She wheezed but this time Sheila didn't fall for it. She jumped up and kicked Wanda in the face and then elbowed her in the stomach. Wanda gripped onto Sheila's side and flipped her the way Sheila did a moment ago.

Wanda got off of her, "You're a fast learner. The glasses aren't really affecting you anymore. You also didn't fall for my trick"

"I didn't hit you too hard, did I?" Sheila asked.

Wanda waved her off, "Enhanced genes, remember?"

Sheila smiled at the figure that was Wanda through her glasses and nodded. Wanda and Sheila were both classified as **Enhanced Humans** because of their special abilities. One of the perks was that after fighting, they both heal pretty rapidly and the bruises aren't even visible by the next day. Sheila also noticed that she doesn't get sick with the flu anymore and isn't allergic to pine trees as she used to be before the accident.

Wanda threw a punch to Sheila's throat but she caught it with her fist and pulled Wanda to the ground. She twisted the girl's arm slightly to make her stay in place. When Wanda yelped, Sheila immediately let go and created space between them.

Sheila smiled, "I think I'm getting the hang of this. I know if my regular sparring partners were here, they would be pissed. They act pissy whenever I learn something faster then it took them. They act like children, honestly"

"Try accidentally throwing them to the other side of the room" Wanda placed her hands on her hips.

"I'm sure they love that" Sheila smirked, "I've seen some of them limping out of the room"

"Oh yeah, most of them deserved it anyways" Wanda chuckled.

"Wait a minute" Sheila straightened up, "Do you do it on purpose?"

"I blame it on hormones" Wanda confessed.

Sheila let out a laugh as Wanda joined in shaking her head. Sheila wish she stuck around to see who were the people who actually deserved to be thrown around the room.

"What I would give to blame mine on those" Sheila shook her head, "Too bad I'm nowhere near my teens anymore. Do you know how hard it is to keep your voice down?"

Sheila glanced up at the overhead windows and noticed that it was dark enough outside. She squinted as she slowly took off her glasses, anticipating some sort of pain. Across from her, she could hear Wanda sucking in her breath as she didn't know what to expect as well. Sheila slowly opened her eyes and noticed that nothing seemed to be hurting. The lamps from up above weren't even straining her eyes. She let out a sigh of relief as Wanda raked her hand through her own hair.

"Are you okay?" Wanda asked.

Sheila actually felt more than okay, her eyes didn't even react to the light around her. Normally, it would take a long while but her eyes felt well rested. She brought her hands up and tenderly touched the corners of her eye and slightly winced at the sunburning feeling. It was a lot better than glaring at the light like she's used to as of this moment. She looked over to Wanda as the younger adult was expecting something to happen at any minute.

"I feel fine! Great actually" Sheila responded, "It takes longer than this for my eyes to recover but it doesn't seem that way anymore. I think it has something to do with the oil you soaked the towel in. How do I look? Does it look horrible?"

"Just a little bit irritated around the eyes" Wanda shrugged, "Nothing too extreme"

"That's good" Sheila smiled as she forced herself to bring her hand back down to her side.

"Let's find something to eat" Wanda sighed, "I'm starving"

"You'll have to make it yourself" Sheila reminded her.

"I forgot about how the chefs left too" Wanda moaned.

Sheila looped her arm around Wanda's bony shoulders, "I'll make you something"

"Have you heard any news from Clint?" Wanda asked as they left the room.

"No, he doesn't bring his personal cellphone on missions, remember?" Sheila answered, "I'm sure he's fine"

"I'm nervous for him" Wanda sighed.

"Trust in him" Sheila told her, "He's an expert in what he does. He knows how much going back to Eastern Europe worries you so I'm sure you'll be the first person he will call"

"You sure?" Wanda asked.

"I'm positive" Sheila gave her arm a grip.


	9. Advice

Sheila let out a heavy sigh as she glanced down to her cell phone and noticed that there were no new messages; not even an e-mail except for the daily spam mail from stores she thought she liked but now found annoying. She crossed her arms and glanced outside of the compound to the fresh green grass and the nothingness around them. It's only been two days and she's already missing having the agents around. Something clanked down in front of Sheila making her turn her head to see a beer in front of her and Sam sitting across from her. He sat a huge plate of tacos down in between them and waved for her to have some. She smiled and grabbed one of the medium-sized tacos and gladly took a bite into it.

"I would offer these to Wanda and Bucky but Wanda's in the middle of exercising her power and Bucky's still beating a punching bag to a bloody pulp" Sam announced.

Sheila felt a pang of guilt when Sam mentioned Bucky. She knew why he was in the gym, he hasn't gotten out of there ever since Sheila burned her eyes from the sun reflecting on his arm. Her suspicions were confirmed when Wanda said that she heard his guilt, in fact, the thoughts swirling her head was the reason why she woke up. Sheila took a swig out of the beer in front of her and was glad that Sam had presented the beverage to her. She would talk to Bucky but he seems to find a way to disappear whenever she was planning on talking to him.

She took another bite into the taco and listened to the silence around the two. Out of everyone, Sam was the one she hadn't really talked to in a while. Sheila looked up to Sam who was just humming along and finishing the food he had in his hand, already reaching out to grab another one. Sheila straightened up as she felt like he was the one in charge now that Captain had left to join the actual Avengers.

Sheila took her bottle and started to spin it around and around as she wondered what to say to him. He mentioned the other two easily but his eyes lingered on her when Sam mentioned Bucky. He wants her to acknowledge the other man and Sheila was going to take his bait.

"He doesn't want to talk to me" Sheila began, "I haven't seen him since yesterday"

"But you want to speak to him" Sam confirmed.

"It's not as easy as it seems, even if I leave to the gym right now he'll just figure it out and go off somewhere else" Sheila discussed.

"He believes that if he gets close to you then he will hurt you" Sam explained, "He doesn't want history to repeat"

"He told you this?" Sheila asked.

"It took me nearly two hours for him to finally spill but he caved in" Sam bragged.

Sheila looked up to him, "What should I do?"

Sam opened his mouth to say something but then stopped and closed his mouth. Sheila raised an eyebrow at him as Sam squinted his eyes and looked out to the scenery. Sam only wanted to tell Sheila about Bucky, not have her lean on him in order to help him solve the tension. Sheila took a bite slowly out of her taco as she let the crunch be heard throughout the empty room. Sam glanced over to her as she pretended to not notice as she took the napkin and lightly dabbed it on the corners of her mouth. Sam suddenly hit his fist onto the table making Sheila jump and look at him as he pointed his finger at her.

Sam answered, "Be there for him when he's having another nightmare"

"How much did he tell you exactly?" Sheila questioned, "Judging by how much he's told you, maybe you should be the one who needs to talk to him"

"He didn't tell me anything but didn't Wanda say that he knew you watched him while he slept?" Sam asked.

"It was only for five seconds" Sheila defended herself, "Do you honestly think he'll listen to me then?"

"He'll have to" Sam said, "I've known a lot of PTSD soldiers and none of them liked to go back to sleep because they fear their dreams might repeat"

Sheila thought back to the first time she saw Bucky out of his room and remembered how low his head was to the table. It almost looked like he was trying to fight off sleep at that moment as well. Even when they were at the lounge she had noticed how often he tried to fight it off as he continued to write in his mystery book. She knew that she was the first person he went to after he woke up from a nightmare so maybe that opportunity was still open for her. Sheila did a small nod as she picked up her beer bottle and raised it to Sam as he smiled and clinked his bottle to hers.

"You're a genius" Sheila complimented.

"Nah" Sam waved off, "I'm just trying to keep love alive"

Sheila blinked as she glanced back up at him, "What?"

"Nothing" Sam got up as he took the plate, "I'm going to offer this to Wanda and Bucky since you keep on scaring him off, the poor man needs to eat sometime"

"Oh, shut up!" Sheila called after him.

Sam let out a hearty laugh that echoed down the hallway even after he disappeared. Sheila shook her head as she took her final bite out of the taco she had and glanced out the window. Her mind kept swimming back to Bucky but she tried to fight it off as much as she can. _I am not in love with Bucky Barnes_ was all she kept on thinking to herself over and over again.


	10. Right Now

"I think that's a good idea" Wanda said from behind the punching bag, "Why didn't you do it last night? You had plenty time. Hell, he was just lying on his bed sleeping. All you had to do was go in there and wake him up. Did you flake?"

"No" Sheila punched the punching bag, "I just didn't know how to wake him up"

"So you flaked" Wanda repeated.

"I tried waking him up but didn't want to get too close to his arm" Sheila sighed.

"Oh yeah… he does have one of those" Wanda said slowly.

Sheila dropped down her shoulders and looked to Wanda. The little woman just gave a feeble shrug as she gripped onto the punching bag. Sheila let out a low growl as she picked up her hands once again and started to punch out her frustrations. She had seen Bucky's body contorted into a weird angle as he covered his arms over his head as he let out muffled screams. She had shouted his name over and over but it came as no use. Sheila felt like she had failed him as she turned her back and walked out of the door.

"I should've done more" Sheila mumbled.

"Who knows what memory he was living through" Wanda comforted.

It didn't do Sheila any good as she let out a forceful punch. The force made Wanda take a step back as her eyes widened at the punch. She kept on going left and right, left and right, left and right trying to take her frustrations out of her but the more she punched the more she felt sick to her stomach. The guilt seems to sink into her skin and rise up the burning bile in her throat. Red energy formed around her fists, making Sheila drop her hands down to her sides.

Sheila looked up to see Wanda staring at her with her eyes glowing red. She was about to question why the woman was still holding her when she put together that Wanda must've heard her thoughts. Sheila sighed and then started to try and control her breathing as she felt herself become instantly calmer. Wanda held her for a couple more seconds before her eyes dimmed back down to brown.

Sheila brought her stance back to the way the Captain had taught her and started to punch in a more timed method. Sheila started to practice on the twist of her arm and the impact that she could feel upon her thrusts. She was starting to feel more and more powerful with each throw she gave to the bag.

"I just left him there" Sheila started again.

"He could've killed you the second he woke up" Wanda told her.

"He trusted me to wake him up last week" Sheila thrust her hands in the air, "When I found him last night I couldn't do a damn thing"

"Throw something at him" Wanda suggested.

Sheila stopped punching and looked around it to Wanda. She gave off a sheepish look and shrugged once more.

"How very romantic" Sheila muttered.

"Oh, so you want it to be romantic!" Wanda smiled.

"It was a figure of speech" Sheila stated.

"Sure it was" Wanda teased.

A timer went off for about six seconds before it beeped and went back to the original time that Sheila had set it up for. Wanda smiled from ear to ear as she traded her place with Sheila to start punching the bag. Sheila took off her gloves and wiped the sweat that had started to cover herself and waited for Wanda's first punch. Wanda immediately brought up her hands to her face and started to punch with a lot more force than Sheila thought that she could muster. She had to admit that she was kind of impressed with the younger adult for showing strength in her fighting over the last couple of days. Wanda seemed in full concentration mode as she kept on punching the bag and even fake dodged like as if she was in an actual fight.

Sheila tried to still her breathing as she looked over Wanda's shoulder and thought she saw something move away from the window. Sheila didn't put too much thought into if she was actually seeing things or not, she just figured it was just her imagination. Sometimes she felt like she could hear voices from other agents, even Clint, but it always was just her mind playing tricks on her. She didn't want to admit it but being in a big glass facility with only three other residents has put her on edge. Sheila wondered when the other agents were planning on returning before they get caught by Captain America that they left the initiate's alone in the facility.

Wanda did a roundhouse kick to the punching bag and almost made it fly out of Sheila's hands. Sheila gave her an impressed look but still stayed silent. She knew that Wanda likes the first couple of minutes to be quiet so that she could focus. She admired the young girl for her growing intrepidity.

Sheila held onto the punching bag as her mind snapped back to Bucky's crumpled body in his bed. She couldn't shake off the way he was holding onto his pillow like as if he wanted something to snap him out of it. Sheila was just inches from touching him as she tried to wake him up with her voice but his moaning was so loud that she was sure Sam and Wanda were going to come running into the room.

"You should try using your voice on him" Wanda broke the silence.

"Already tried that, remember?" Sheila told her.

Wanda looked over to her, "Not your normal voice, the one that was gifted to you"

Sheila blinked, "I could most likely damage his ears from that"

"For someone who's always thinking about talking to him, you sure like to make up a lot of excuses _**not**_ to talk to him" Wanda punched the bag, "Use the lowest tone"

Sheila rolled her eyes, "Fine, I'll prove you wrong but if he becomes deaf then I'm going to use my abilities on you for using yours on me"

Wanda shrugged, "He's technically 98 years old so I wouldn't be surprised if his age catches up with him"

Sheila glared at her, "You have a sick kind of humor, you know that?"


	11. You

_**Colombia, 1957**_

" _El regreso" the man announced, "Supongo que todo salió de acuerdo al plan" (He's back. I'm guessing everything went according to plan)_

" _Quieres esto?" The Winter Soldier nodded down to his side. (You wanted this)_

" _Casi olvido" the man beamed. (I almost forgot)_

 _The Winter Soldier picked up the terrified little girl and threw her over to the center of the room. She let out a yelp as she landed and shook with fear as the man approached her. The little girl's dress was speckled with the blood of her parents, the same blood that was painted onto the Soldier's human hand. She looked around the room as she trembled more and more with fear. When her eyes landed on the leader of HYDRA she whimpered and sank back before she looked up and noticed the Winter Soldier standing behind her. She let out a blood curdling scream as she lunged herself to the closest place that she could hide as she shook with fear._

 _The man let out a laugh and clapped his hands. He was amused by this as he walked over to the little girl. HYDRA has been looking for this family for months now; exactly three months and 10 days according to the Winter Soldier. The family had many allies in which the Winter Soldier would kill off one by one until finally there was no one left. Now all that remains of the wealthy family was that of the trembling child not five feet from him._

" _Donde esta mi mama?" the girl questioned. (Where is my mom)_

 _The man bent down to her level, "Tu mama esta muerta" (Your mother is dead)_

" _No!" she yelled out, "Por que?" (Why)_

" _Que el hombre la mató" the leader pointed to the Winter Soldier, "Preguntarle" (That man killed her. Ask him)_

" _Por que la mataste?" the girl cried out as she looked at the Soldier innocently, (Why did you kill her?)_

" _Porque era mi mision" The Winter Soldier responded, "_ _Me dijeron que matar a tu familia y te llevaré a mi reportero. Yo hice mi parte. Nada más importa"_ _(Because it was my mission. I was told to kill your family and bring you to my reporter. I did my part. Nothing else matters)_

" _Nada más importa?" the girl repeated, "No tengo padres!"_

 _(Nothing else matters? I have no parents!)_

" _Yo hago lo que me dicen que hacer" The Winter Soldier answered back. (I do what I am told to do)_

" _Eso lo hace" the leader nodded. (That he does)_

" _Quiero que mis padres volver" the girl pleaded, (I want my parents back)_

" _No se preocupe" the man said, (Don't worry)_

" _Voy a ver otra vez?" the girl asked, (Will I see them again?)_

 _The Winter Soldier felt a headache probe through his head as he squinted and clutched the bridge of his nose as he squeezed his eyes shut. The smell of the blood all of a sudden made him nauseous as the recent events flooded through his mind. He felt guilty of what he did and how he pitied the girl for having no family. It almost felt like he could all of a sudden relate to the young child in front of him._

" _Estás bien? ¿Necesita un tratamiento?" a scientist asked, (Are you alright? Do you need a treatment?)_

 _He knew that was code for something; to tell the scientist if he really was alright in his head. Before he could answer truthfully, something inside of him made him lie to the scientist. The Winter Soldier opened his eyes and remained still as he watched the man cower over the girl like a predator stalking its prey._

 _The man straightened up, "Estoy seguro que va a disfrutar de este. Quiero oír tus gritos" (I'm certainly going to enjoy this. I want to hear you scream)_

 _The Winter Soldier suddenly lunged himself at the man in charge and threw him to the other side of the room as he quickly picked up the little girl and aimed the gun at the scientist. He shot at the scrawny man but he had already escaped through the door._

 _He turned and fired at the man in charge as his body went limp, the Winter Soldier ran through the door and down a hallway that he was hoping the scientist didn't go down to alert others._

" _Deténgase!" a man yelled behind him, (Stop!)_

 _People came out from the end of the hall, firing both in front of the Winter Soldier and behind him. He ducked into a small opening for shelter as he gently put the child down. He took out from his holster his own gun and counted the seconds until he curved his arm around the corner and shot down one end of the hall. The Winter Soldier heard screams and moans as fires came from the other end of the hall, making the girl let out a yelp. He got up and fired down other end, hitting his targets one by one. He knew that all of HYDRA would be alerted of this and knew he had to get out and go underground with the little girl._

 _The Winter Soldier turned to pick up the girl but noticed that she was on the floor, her white dress soaked in red at the chest. She was letting out gasps for air as he dropped his weapon and placed his metal hand upon her chest and held it firmly. Tears streamed down her face as the Winter Soldier encouraged her to hold on as he tried to one-handedly mend the wound. The girl let out a whimper as she tried to smile through the pain as she placed her hand on top of his cold metal hand. She opened her mouth to say something but the light left her eyes as what she wanted to say died with her._

" _No, no!" the Winter Soldier yelled out._

" _¡Ahí está!" a man shouted out, (There he is!)_

" _Tráelo al laboratorio. Ha estado fuera de la crio- congelación durante demasiado tiempo" another commanded. (Bring him to the lab. He's been out of cryofreeze for too long)_

 _The Winter Soldier let his hands drop down to his sides as he stared down at the little girl as four men dragged him to the laboratory. He didn't even fight it, he didn't even want to. For once in his questionable life, he wanted to be put to sleep and forget about this. He even was looking forward to the painful shock of the prepping in order to force the girl's face out of his mind._

* * *

" _ **Bucky!"**_ a voice snapped him out of his dream, making the torn man sit up in his bed.

He turned and noticed Sheila was standing halfway between the bed and the door, "Sheila?"

"It was just a dream" Sheila said in a light voice.

"It wasn't a dream, it was a memory" Bucky shuddered as his breathing became shaky as he looked down to his hands, expecting them to be stained with blood, "I killed her parents"

"It's alright" Sheila took a slow step forward, "You were under HYDRA's control, there was no way you could've fought back"

"But this memory was different" Bucky cut her off, "I betrayed HYDRA"

"What?" Sheila gasped, "What happened?"

"The commander was about to kill a little child I brought to him" Tears filled his eyes to the point that they felt sore, "But I killed him before he could kill her"

Bucky shuddered as he brought his head into his hands and started to sob. Sheila turned slightly to leave him to his grievance but then stopped and looked back to him. This memory had finally shattered him and this time, his book wouldn't be able to help him. She walked over and placed a small hand on top of his shoulder. Bucky swung his legs over the side of the bed and wrapped his arms around Sheila and brought her closer to him as he buried his face into her stomach. Sheila gasped as she felt Bucky stifle his cries into her; she slowly wrapped her arm around his shoulder and gently pet his hair.

"Lie back down" Sheila told him.

He didn't argue with her as he tore his body away from her and laid back down onto his bed. Bucky didn't even watch as Sheila walked over and closed the door. He thought she left him alone but then he saw the female walk over to the other side of the bed and prop the pillow so she could sit up on the bed. Without hesitation, Sheila wrapped her arm around his shoulder once more and guided his head over to her lap. Bucky felt a huge lump in his throat as he felt Sheila stroking his hair that somehow made him feel both calm and protected at the same time.

"How long are you planning on staying?" Bucky asked.

"As long as you want me to" Sheila whispered.

Bucky's lips parted as he was about to tell her to go back to her room but instead he said, "Thank you"

Sheila hummed out a tune as she continued to slide her fingers through his damp hair, not at all thinking about how much sweat he had produced in a short amount of time. She watched as Bucky looked outside the window to the woods outside, his eyes drooping but he fought them off. She felt a warm feeling in her stomach as Bucky wrapped his arms around her body and nestled into her as he got used to her company. Sheila licked her lips as she started to whisper a sweet song down to Bucky who didn't even budge when she started to sing.

Hold me now

Stop the morning light from breaking

Something's coming over me

Don't know what it is I'm saving

The clock ticks by

And it just might change everything

If I don't give you all that's waiting

Who knows what tomorrow will bring

Bucky slowly closed his eyes as he nuzzled his head deeper into Sheila's lap. A woody, slightly sweet, balsamic scent went to his nose as the smell of Sheila's lotion sent a wave of strengthening over him. A chill went through him as he listened to Sheila's song.

If I try not to need you

I'll be hiding from myself but, oh

If tomorrow never comes

I would do it all again

If the light never breaks through

I would stay until the end

If I've saved it all for you

I would have my faith again

Then, then I would know it's you

Won't shed a tear

For more than just a moment

Try not to let myself go crazy

Tomorrow may not come

Sheila brought her hand over to Bucky's face and trailed his light stubble on his chin. Her heart skipped a beat when he took her hand and placed the palm to his lips and gave her a sweet kiss.

So I won't hold you here

Unless you wanna fight about it

I would gladly let you win

'Cause I don't need to write this ending

If I just trust the stillness

Somehow it won't hurt so bad, oh

If tomorrow never comes

I would do it all again

If the light never breaks through

I would stay until the end

If I've saved it all for you

I would have my faith again

Then, then I would know

Bucky felt himself slipping off into sleep for the first time in God only knows how many months and for once, he wasn't scared of what his dreams might hold.

If tomorrow never comes

I would do it all again

If the light never breaks through

I would stay until the end

If I've saved it all for you

I would have my faith again

Then, then I would know

Then, then, then I would know it's you

Sheila looked down to Bucky and noticed his mouth slightly parted as heavy breathing came from the man laying across her. Sheila gave a small smile to him as she gently traced her fingertips over the scars just above his metal socket on his arm. She hated HYDRA more than ever now for what they did to Bucky and understood Captain's hatred towards them as well. She brushed back his shoulder-length hair as she continued to hum the song once more, worried that he might wake up. Even though it was within the dead hours of the night, Sheila felt wide awake and didn't want to fall asleep knowing that Bucky had trusted her this much to fall asleep once more. Sheila placed her hand firmly on the side of his head and closed her eyes as she knew that she wouldn't stop at nothing if it were to keep Bucky safe from his nightmares, memories, and HYDRA.


	12. Someone Special

"How long did I sleep?" Bucky asked the second he opened his eyes.

"Five hours" Sheila answered.

"Five hours?" Bucky repeated as he sat up and sat next to Sheila, "I've never slept that long before"

"Really?" Sheila looked over to him.

Bucky straightened up and looked over to the clock and noticed that it was 7:56 in the morning. A smile drifted over his lips as he realized that this was the first sleep that he hadn't had a memory wake him up. Instead, it was the scent of Sheila's lotion that made him slowly return back to reality. He stayed there with his eyes closed as he felt Sheila massage his arm and play with the tips of his hair. If he could wake up every morning like that, he would, and wondered if Sheila felt the same way. He looked over to her and noticed that she tried to hide a yawn by cupping her hands over her face.

"How long did you sleep?" Bucky asked, "I knew I should've moved to have you lie down"

"No, it's okay, I did get some sleep in" Sheila immediately waved off.

"It doesn't look like it" Bucky said, "Did I disturb you from your sleep?"

"No!" Sheila quickly put in.

"I did" Bucky sighed and looked away.

"You would flinch and started to have a memory creep in every once in awhile" Sheila finally told him, "It wouldn't last long but I just didn't want you to wake up. So I would sing the song and you would calm down again. You needed your sleep"

Sheila felt a warm hand wrap into hers as Bucly rubbed his thumb across her knuckles, "Thank you"

"Do you think you had a girlfriend back in your time?" Sheila suddenly blurted out, "I mean… someone special waiting for you back at your home. Someone you probably had in mind when you were off fighting the war. Someone special"

"I hope not" Bucky looked into Sheila's chocolate eyes.

"That's a very interesting answer" Sheila glanced down to their hands.

Bucky cracked a small smile for a second, "It's not what it sounds like. I wouldn't want to have someone special back in that time waiting for someone till the day she died. It seems like some kind of unfulfilling love story, don't you think?"

Sheila blushed and looked away from him, "I should go"

"Is it something that I've said?" Bucky asked.

"No, maybe it would be best if Sam and Wanda don't see this and want to ask us questions upon questions about what happened" Sheila explained.

"Good idea" Bucky glanced over to the curtains, "Wait a minute. Let's see if the sun is high enough"

"I forgot about that" Sheila rolled her eyes, "I sometimes forget that my eyes are sensitive to light nowadays"

Bucky peeked out at the light, "I didn't"

"It wasn't your fault what happened a couple of days ago" Sheila shook her head, "I didn't time my exit properly"

"I shouldn't have asked where you were going" Bucky sat back down onto the bed, "You explained that you're sensitive to light. It was my arm that blinded you that day and to see you in so much pain killed me"

"Why?" Sheila asked as she felt herself heating up.

Bucky stared at her through his brown hair, his blue eyes piercing into her soul, "Because I care about you. I felt the need to protect you the way you look out for me"

"You don't have to think that way" Sheila curled her legs up to her chest and traced the fabric.

"I want to" Bucky said in a low voice, "It gives me a distraction. I feel like if I focus my energy on protecting you, it makes everything I did with HYDRA nothing. I was hoping that my dreams of my memories would fade away but they just became more vivid with each passing day that I don't get my memories wiped"

"How would they do that?" Sheila asked.

"The scientists would first strap me to a black chair" Bucky began.

His mind snapped back to feeling the sudden jolt of being pulled back in the chair. Bucky would squeeze his mouth tighter on the mouthguard as he prayed that this time would be shorter than the last, but it never was, it always felt longer and longer. First, he would hear the whirring sound of the machine's firing up and gathering strength, making Bucky hyperventilate. The next would be the cover of darkness over one eye as he saw the first spark of the electricity come to life. Then it would happen, the white searing pain that sent his head on fire to the point of explosion, he wanted to move away but the straps were too tight. He would scream at the top of his lungs as he silently begged for the scientists to take pity on him and to make it all stop, just pull the plug and let him live like any other human being.

"Bucky!" Sheila screamed out as she clutched onto his shoulders, "Bucky, it's okay. You will never experience that pain ever again"

"I can still feel the sparks running through my head" Bucky shuddered.

"Just take a deep breath" Sheila said in a calm voice, "In through your nose, out through your mouth. Come on, do it with me"

"I can't" Bucky shook his head.

Sheila moved Bucky backwards until he was lying back down once again. This time Sheila placed him on her chest, cradling him like a small child. He could hear how calm her heartbeat was compared to his, he could hear every time she breathed in and breathed out. Bucky started to mimic her breathing as she held onto his body. Eventually she felt Bucky calm down and as he sighed let his head remain on her chest.

"Do you feel better?" Sheila asked, "Do you want me to stay?"

"I'd appreciate it" Bucky whispered, "Just until we hear when Sam and Wanda wake up"

Sheila smiled and traced his brown hair as she hoped he couldn't hear her heartbeating faster now, "That's fine by me. I'll stay"


	13. All I See is You

"Good morning, stud!" Sam yelled out so loudly that Bucky nearly dropped the weight bar onto himself.

"What are you talking about?" Bucky got up.

"I'm talking about how you and Sheila got close all last night while Wanda and I were sleeping like babies" Sam smiled as he sat down on the bench next to the ex-assassin, "Very sneaky"

"Did she tell you?" Bucky looked over to Sam.

"Sheila, no" Sam shook his head, "Wanda, yes"

"I'm gonna kill that telepath" Bucky rolled his eyes.

"She can't help it when she wakes up in the morning" Sam defended her, "Especially when two of her roommates are all lovey dovey"

"She should've kept it to herself rather than run to you about it" Bucky retorted, "It would be nice to have a secret or two without her knowing about it"

"She actually had to tell me in order to not walk in on you two" Sam told him, "I was going to ask you to go on a morning jog with me… before she tackled me into her room"

"Did you end up running after all?" Bucky asked.

"Not really, I was too interested in what Wanda was saying" Sam smirked.

Bucky scoffed, "How much did she tell you?"

"Only that you woke up with your head on her lap and ended up cuddling with her for an extra two hours" Sam teased, "Why was she in your room anyways?"

Bucky's eyes adverted from Sam's as he pretended to look at his watch on his wrist. So Wanda didn't mention Bucky's nightmare, good. It was already uncomfortable enough that he had to explain it to Sheila even though she was the one he felt closest too. Whether or not Wanda read that far into their minds or not, he was happy she kept that little note to herself. Bucky got up and started to stretch out his arm. He waved Sam up as he walked over to the door.

"Let's go" he called out.

Sam walked beside him, "Where are we going?"

"You wanted to go for a jog, right? So let's see who's the fastest" Bucky suggested.

"Alright, but if I win the race, you get to tell me all I want to know for the next 24 hours!" Sam said.

"Dobré ráno, krásny" A voice said from behind Sheila.

"What did you say?" Sheila turned to Wanda.

Wanda smiled as she plopped down onto the bed, "It means 'Good morning, beautiful'. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one that thinks of you that way. I'll give you a hint: he has a metal arm"

Sheila rolled her eyes, "I thought we told you to stop reading people's minds like that"

"Except for when I just barely wake up which was about around the time that you were holding Bucky to your chest hoping that this moment will never end" Wanda said dramatically as she clutched the pillow to her chest as Sheila glared at her, "Glad to see that you took my advice"

"Did you tell anyone else?" Sheila asked her.

"No!" Wanda waved her hand, "Except to Sam"

"Then that's everyone" Sheila let out.

She tossed her wet towel to Wanda which stopped in mid air and flung itself over to the corner of the room. Sheila suddenly felt embarrassed as she covered her cheeks to keep them from blushing. She quickly walked over to the open door and closed it, hoping to keep the secret in only this room. How was she going to show her face around here with everyone knowing what she did in Bucky's room? Sure it wasn't sex but Clint will definitely think it was the second he hears that kind of talk. Sheila sighed as she walked over to her bed and plopped herself down with her face in the mattress.

"What was it like?" Wanda asked.

"What?" Sheila asked through the mattress.

"To feel needed by someone" Sheila looked up from the mattress to see Wanda's wide eyes glued onto her as she continued, "I never really had someone who showed attraction toward me. Maybe they did but either Pietro would shoo them away or they would think I'm crazy. I've always wondered what it would be like to be loved by someone who loves you in return"

Sheila propped herself up as she thought for a moment, "It feels fulfilling and dangerous at the same time"

"Why?" Wanda whispered.

"Because you give your heart to someone and feel so complete knowing they feel the same way, but then terrified knowing that if they don't feel the same way, it would destroy you for a very long time" Sheila explained as she thought about Bucky.

A small smile came onto her lips as she looked over to Wanda who laid across the bed with her as she sighed like a hopeless romantic girl, savoring the feeling that Sheila described as she hoped that someday she will feel that way about someone too. Sheila remembered how sheltered the twins were from life from almost near childhood. She never really got to experience the normal things in life that girls her age have already done. Wanda never knew what it was like to hang out with girlfriends, talk about guys they liked, or go to parties and dance the night away. Sheila promised herself that once Captain America comes back, she will ask permission to leave the premises with Wanda in order to give the young girl a life she's always dreamed of, even if it's just for one day.


	14. Memories

"Dinner almost ready?" a voice asked from the door, "Sam's getting upset again. He over tired himself out from our morning race"

"Almost" Sheila glanced over her shoulder, "I'll make sure he gets first dibs"

"Mind if I help?" Bucky asked.

Sheila didn't say anything but heard Bucky's heavy footsteps bringing him closer to her as she suddenly felt like the room turned into an inferno. He stood close to her as he worked quietly beside her, she glanced over to his side and noticed that he actually knew what he was doing. Bucky glanced over to her, making Sheila quickly look back to her food on the cutting board and cleared her throat. She has been purposely avoiding him just so that she wouldn't have to have an awkward confrontation like this one she's experiencing right now. Bucky placed the spatula down and placed a hand on Sheila's hip. She gasped under her breath as he moved behind her and took out a spice from the pile she had put together and went back to the stove and sprinkled just the right amount on the food.

"Who taught you how to cook?" Sheila asked, "Not a lot of people know what spice to put on that. Did HYDRA make you their personal chef at one point? If they did I will hunt the rest of them down and scream until their ears bleed"

Bucky suddenly reached out and grabbed onto her hand holding the knife. Her eyes focused on where the knife would land and noticed that she could've easily sliced her finger. The tomato was already cut up to the point that it was just mush on the cutting board. Sheila sighed in relief knowing that she didn't have to deal with bloody tomatoes and a cut up finger. Bucky slowly took his hand away from hers as Sheila brought the knife down.

Sheila grabbed onto the counter, leaned forward and closed her eyes. She tried to steady her breathing as the feeling made her sick, thinking of Bucky serving a plate to his captors had turned this dinner into a dark mindset for her. Sheila felt Bucky's touch again as his hand brushed her brown hair over her shoulder so that he could see her face. She glanced up to him and noticed that he was staring intently down at her.

Sheila gave him a weak smile as she placed a hand on his and traced her thumb across his palm. She then turned off the stove and started to get the food ready on top of plates and bowls. Bucky on the other hand, was still standing facing Sheila as she tried to not look at him and pretend that he wasn't even there.

"You hate them" Bucky broke the silence.

"Yes" Sheila confessed, "For what they did to you"

"I see" Bucky said, "My memories resurfacing is causing you to feel hatred over them. I honestly have every right to hate them; they kidnapped me, mutilated me, and used me. They didn't do anything to you. You should keep your distance from them or else you will end up like me"

"I don't want to fight them but it doesn't change the fact about what they did to you. That will never cease to exist" Sheila turned to him, "I hate them because I care about you. All I want is for HYDRA to be destroyed so that what happened to you won't happen to anyone else"

"You care about me" Bucky huffed, "That's strange"

Sheila furrowed her brow, "Why? Is it that so hard to believe?"

"What is there to care about, I'm nothing but a shell of a man that I don't even know what he and Steve liked to do for fun" Bucky shook his head.

"Have you ever wondered what it would be like to stop trying to relive memories and start creating some of your own?" Sheila questioned.

"It's a lot more complicated than that" Bucky said, "I don't even know where to begin"

"Start here. Start with Sam, Wanda, and me" Sheila stated.

"Worry about the rest later" Bucky smiled, "Eventually my memories will come back and I will get through them"

Sheila smiled and placed her hand on the side of his face, making Bucky close his eyes and press his face closer to her hand. She traced her thumb across his cheekbone before sliding her hand back down to her side.

"I'm sure Sam is pissed right now" Sheila joked, "I'm sure he's melting Wanda's ear off about how much his leg cramps hurt"

Sheila giggled as she one last time, gripped onto Bucky's hand and turned to the plate of food and picked up a few plates.

"I couldn't let him win today" Bucky helped with the other plates, "He wanted to know what happened with us last night. He was really trying hard to win, I'll give him that. But I didn't want to give him the satisfaction. Now he must live with the price"

"I heard that!" Sam said as he struggled to get to the table, "Come on, man. I just wanted to know a couple of things. You're always so secretive. I sometimes wish I had Wanda's power. I'll be able to know everyone's secrets"

"And you'll be yelled at to not use your power" Wanda walked over with a glass of wine.

"How can we protect ourselves from you anyways?" Bucky asked.

"Years and years of mental concentration... that is why it was really hard for me to read the minds of some Buddhist when I wanted to" Wanda explained.

Sheila gave a side nod of consideration as she started to serve her own plate as everyone started to dig in. She noticed that Wanda and Sam conveniently took seats across from Bucky and Sheila. She glanced over to Bucky who didn't really seem to notice this as he started to eat his meat. Sheila glared at Sam and Wanda as Sam only let out a chuckle. Sheila rolled her eyes as she started to eat her food and pretend that nothing was going on. Of course, that was really extremely hard to believe.

"So why can't you stop yourself from reading people's minds when you wake up?" Sam asked.

Wanda turned to him, "Ever tried to curl your hand into a fist and squeeze as hard as you can once you first wake up? It's difficult because your body isn't at its full strength yet. My telepathy is like that whenever I wake up"

"Interesting" Sheila pondered, "I wonder if that's similar to what happens to my power"

"Don't try it!" Bucky, Sam, and Wanda let out.

"Alright then" Sheila looked at everyone.

Bucky looked over to Wanda, "Do you think that's what's happening to me?"

"Oh, come on!" Sam groaned, "Please don't tell me you have a secret badass power too"

"No... I was talking about my memories" Bucky stated.

Sheila stopped herself from spilling her wine as it suddenly grew silent at the table, "What do you mean?"

"Whenever my memories resurface it's always when I'm tired or asleep" Bucky explained, "I just want to know if that's the reason why I get them. When my mind is most vulnerable"

"It most likely is" Wanda stated, "If it's explainable in my situation then it has to be for yours"

"Your brain is trying to recover the memories it lost from the wipes because your mind likes to analyze situations through past mistakes" Sam explained, making the other three stare at him, "Yeah, that's right! I know stuff"

"And here I thought he just flies around on a jetpack with wings" Wanda mumbled, "Looks like he has a brain as well"

* * *

Sheila took out her bike from the storage room and started to pedal it down the trail. The three others had to clear up the mess since she was the one that had cooked tonight. She got onto her bike and looked up at the trail lit by small lamps on the ground. Sheila pushed off and then started to pedal as fast as she could. The wind rushed past her ears deafening her from sounds all around her as her vision started to blur. A smile crept onto her face as she remembered riding her bike alongside Clint as they raced to and from school as she felt the rush of the bike pushing her forward as if trying to catch up to him along the trail.

Sheila let out a whoop as she turned a sharp turn as it took a scenic route through the trees and the occasional boulders. The weather was just right leaning onto the cooler side with a small hint of a sharp pinch warning her that the warm season was coming to an end. Sheila wanted to get in this last workout before it became too dark to see a single thing, not that it would affect her or anything. Her bike took flight off of a small incline as it landed firmly below her. This route that she was taking usually lasts for 20 minutes, completely surrounding the whole facility and peaking out at the scenic views.

Sheila blinked as her as her body was transported in time, " _You're losing, Clint!"_

" _Don't worry" a voice sounded dangerously close to her, "I'm closing in on you!"_

" _Give me a break" 12 year old Sheila rolled her eyes, "You say that every time you lose. There's no way you're going to catch up to me!"_

" _Only because you cheat! You did it twice this week" Clint argued, "Don't think I didn't see you. You're just upset that I've been winning lately"_

 _Sheila scrunched up her face and turned her head to look at him, "Am not! You've been losing ever since you had a crush on that new girl. What's her name again? Ava or something like that. I heard she's from Canada"_

 _Sheila's eyes grew slightly wider as she saw Clint and her house sitting right next to each other upon some random field. She smiled as she imagined laughing in Clint's face about losing over some crush. Her legs burned and felt like she was about to tear a muscle any minute but she refused to listen to her body and continue to pedal forward. She could hear Clint panting as he too realized that he could lose right now as well._

" _That's because she is from Canada. What did you not hear her speech about where she lived? Oh, and by the way" a whooshing sound went past Sheila as her neighbor pedaled faster than her, "You're losing! Hurry up! You don't want to lose today do you?"_

 _Sheila let out a yelp as she tried to catch up to Clint but couldn't as her body had zero energy left to spare. Her legs became wobbly as she watched on in defeat as Clint whooped and cheered a victory in which she was supposed to enjoy. She grumbled to herself as she finally slowed down as Clint reached the tree that they called their finish line._

 _Sheila knew the price of what the loser had to do; she had to make an after school snack for both of them. Luckily her mom had just made spaghetti the night before._

"Not this time" Sheila smiled to herself.

Sheila suddenly brought her bike to a skidding halt as she looked to the right side of the path.

Sheila felt her eyes focus more as she became accustomed to the darkness, searching for something she didn't know. She thought that she had seen something move from her peripheral view.

She slowly started to pedal back toward the house as she saw that the outside lights had just turned on automatically. It must've been an animal that had snuck into the facility. Sheila could easily look onto the cameras of the building and see the creature that was hiding out in their little makeshift trail.

Sheila placed her bike back where it was and walked into the building as she was welcomed by the sudden blast of warm air. She was about to go over to the refrigerator to get water when she noticed that water and a towel was waiting at the counter. Sheila blushed as she picked it up and wiped the back of her neck and gulped down nearly half of the water bottle. She walked out and started to march over to the computer room as she heard the TV on in the lounge area. Sheila saw the monitor room in sight when Sam had suddenly called out to her. Sheila stopped in place as she glanced from the monitor room door to the lounge before she swung left.

"What's up?" Sheila walked into the room.

"Tell me you've heard of this show" Sam pointed to the TV, "Time capsule and the Russian lady have never once heard of it before"

"I am not Russian!" Wanda yelled out, "Call me that one more time and I will tear your eyes out"

Sheila smiled as she sat down next to Bucky, "I don't know which is more entertaining; I Love Lucy or Wanda Hates Sam"

"I prefer both shows" Bucky commented.

"Thank you, by the way" Sheila lifted up the water bottle to her lips.

"It's the least I could do" Bucky placed his arm around her shoulder making butterflies come alive in her stomach.

"Dúfam, že ste ísť plešatý a tuk, keď ste starší," Wanda cursed, (I hope you go bald and fat when you're older)

Bucky let out a laugh that surprised nearly everyone in the room as Wanda blushed, knowing he understood her, Sam straightened up as he yelled out, "What did she say?" for nearly the rest of the night.


	15. Good Night

"See all of you in the morning" Sam yawned as he trudged over to his room.

"Lahko noč" Wanda said, "That's goodnight in Slovenian"

"Goodnight" Bucky said as he lingered in the hallway, "Don't broadcast my thoughts like you did today. I'll start telling everyone what you've been saying behind their backs"

"Now I'm really interested in what she says. Hopefully nothing bad at all" Sheila smiled and then stopped, "Goodnight"

Bucky gave her a small nod as Sheila left into her room before she could say something incredibly stupid. She cupped her face and sighed as she was glad that it was finally night time and she could get some sleep after this hectic day. This had to be one of the best and most confusing day of her life. Sheila changed into her PJ's as she went into the bathroom to wash her face as she still caught a whiff of Bucky's scent on her somehow. The feeling made her lightheaded to the point that she almost missed the knocking on her door. Sheila wiped her face with the towel and walked out to open the door and see a shirtless Bucky standing in the hallway.

"Can I sleep with you?" Bucky asked.

Sheila gawked, "What?"

"I meant the way we did last night" Bucky further explained, not realizing what he had said, "Except this time both of us are lying down"

Sheila blushed, "That sounds comfortable"

Bucky smiled as Sheila stepped aside for him to walk into her room. He cautiously walked in as she closed the door. Sheila quickly picked up some clothes that she had left on the floor and tossed them into the closet. Bucky sat himself down onto her bed with his book in his hand. He followed her gaze down to his notebook before he lifted it up over to her.

"I want you to read it" Bucky said.

Sheila slowly walked over to the outstretched book as she gently took it from his hand. She sat down and stared at it in her lap, somehow not too eager to read it. She glanced over to Bucky who was watching her through his brown hair, he almost looked terrified that she had something he held value to himself in her hands. Sheila reached out and took a hold of his metal hand as if it were his human hand.

"Are you sure?" Sheila asked.

"Yes, but I want to ask one more thing" Bucky said as she remained quiet, "Can I kiss you?"

Sheila tensed up as she felt Bucky brush her hair out of her face as she brought her lips closer to his. She was glad that she was gripping onto his metal hand otherwise he would notice that she was holding on for dear life. His lips moved in as they lightly touched onto each other as he let out a breath to savor the moment. Bucky suddenly grabbed onto her and threw her down onto the floor and laid down on top of her. Sheila let out a terrified squeal before she heard the shattering of glass and banging of guns firing. Bucky picked up his head to look at Sheila as they both stared at eachother and nodded at the same time.

"Go!" Bucky flung himself off of her as Sheila rolled toward the dresser.

"Who are they?" Sheila asked.

"HYDRA" Bucky growled.

Sheila looked over to Bucky who somehow found a gun under her bed and started to fire back at the people outside. She turned to her side and noticed her speakerphone was on her nightstand. Sheila grabbed onto the wires and forced the machine down as she quickly started to turn it on. Bucky looked over to her in confusion and was about to ask what she was doing when HYDRA officers came in through her door. Sheila waved her hand and the sound from the song playing blasted the people out of her room.

"Sheila, you need to get out of here!" Bucky grabbed onto her hand.

Sheila shook her head, "Not without you. We're a team, remember?"

Bucky looked surprised, "Speaking of teams. Where are Sam and Wanda?"

Sheila stared into his eyes, "What did they do to them?"

"I don't know" Bucky whispered.

Sheila's face contorted as she stood up and blast the rock music over to the outside window as she wrapped it around the men outside. She amplified the noise making them scream in pain at how loud it was. A man came behind her and aimed a gun at Sheila before Bucky ran over and tackled him to the ground. Sheila jumped as the bullet had narrowly missed her and hit the wall instead.

"Bucky!" she shouted, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine" Bucky reached out behind him, "Come on"

Sheila turned to the speakerphone and separated it from the plug, "Where are we going?"

"Finding out where the others are" Bucky said as he took a hold of her hand.

"What if they're…" Sheila trailed off.

Bucky didn't answer that as he sided his body onto the wall and moved his arm around the corner and started to fire off at the end of the hall. He ran out of bullets in his clip and went further into Sheila's room to reload. Sheila stepped around him and blasted off soundwaves on either end of the hall, making the chaos of gunshots fade away.

Sheila looked over her shoulder to Bucky who nodded in approval to her. She smirked and let Bucky lead the way as he took hold of her hand again and edged closer to Sam's room.

Bucky sniffed the air, "Smell that?"

"What is it? A gas leak?" Sheila shielded her nose.

"I wish" he mumbled, "It's Chloroform"

"Chloroform?" Sheila repeated.

"It's in a gas form, I suppose. They must've slipped it into their rooms before they attacked us" Bucky pondered.

"But why didn't we go under?" Sheila asked.

"Because you weren't supposed to be involved" a man's voice said from behind them.

"Pierce" Bucky wrapped his arm around Sheila and placed her behind him, "I thought you were dead"

"Didn't your best friend also think that you were dead as well?" Pierce questioned.

"What do you want?" Bucky glared but knew exactly what he was going to say next.

"For you to come back" Pierce responded.

"Not going to happen" Bucky shouted out.

"Thought you might say that. Oh, well" Pierce shrugged and signaled his hand.

Suddenly, all the doors opened to reveal dozens of HYDRA gunmen all around. Sheila waved her hand around and got rid of one room as Bucky shot at the other rooms and fought off the men that came close enough. A gunshot hit the speakerphone, shattering it to a million pieces. Sheila punched a man and kicked him off to the side as she grabbed his knife and stabbed another man. She kicked him back and ducked away from a punch but wasn't quick enough when someone took out her legs from under her. Sheila tried to get up fast but a boot pressed her down and aimed a gun to her head.

"No!" Bucky screamed out as he stopped fighting.

"That's interesting" Pierce noted, "You are willing to submit all for the sake of a girl"

Bucky glanced down to Sheila as he said in a low tone, "Yes"

"Excellent!" Pierce said, "Kill her and then bring him"

"No!" Bucky shouted as he turned to the man, "You kill her then I will kill myself!"

"Bucky!" Sheila yelled out but Bucky's eyes stayed glued to Pierce.

"Alright, she comes with us" Pierce nodded to the man with the gun. He turned to Sheila as he waved his gun up and smacked her in the head, making Sheila's body go limp.

"Sheila!" Bucky took a step toward her but all of the guns aimed up at him.

"Let's go, Soldier" Pierce said in an irritated voice. Bucky stared at Sheila for a couple of seconds before he slowly turned around and followed his former leader outside as Sheila was dragged out behind him.


	16. Change My Life

Wanda felt exhausted to the point that she couldn't even open her eyes, she knew it was morning but still felt like she could sleep for a little while longer. She felt like she was floating as her head hung over the edge, almost as if she were flying in some sort of way. Her mind was trying to reach out to others but it almost felt like the voices were at the end of a tunnel and echoing words that she couldn't understand. Suddenly, Wanda was shaking violently as fresh air filled her lungs and almost instantly clearing away the fog. She slowly opened her eyes and noticed Sam was fanning a book back and forth in front of her face, encouraging her to breathe. She slowly inhaled as she tried her best to sit up but still felt groggy.

"I guess I overslept" Wanda mumbled, "Too much wine, I suppose"

"It wasn't the wine, Wanda. We've been drugged" Sam told her.

Wanda looked over to him, "What!?"

"Chloroform" Sam continued, "I recognized it and tried my best to get out of my room"

"Who would do such a thing? Did you wake up Sheila and Bucky?" Wanda asked but then it was followed by silence, "They're alright, right?"

"There's something you need to see" Sam finally said.

Wanda tried to break away from Sam, "See what?"

Sam opened up his mouth to say something but then slowly guided Wanda to her feet and led her over to the room. Wanda gasped and covered her mouth as she noticed the room looked like a massacre with the men dressed in black sprawled on the floor. Wanda noticed that the window was broken with Sheila's mattress shredded up. These men came to assassinate her in the most brutal way possible. Also, they wanted Bucky, Sam, and Wanda out of the way.

"I came to her room first" Sam began, "I saw all of this and knew something was out of place. These people came from-"

"HYDRA" Wanda finished.

"So you recognize the emblem" Sam nodded.

Wanda shuddered, "I've seen it before. What does Bucky think happened here?"

"Both Bucky and Sheila are missing" Sam informed, "I don't think they attacked her room because of her being in there"

"They were after Bucky" Wanda gasped, "And Sheila was in the way"

Wanda pushed Sam away from her and quickly walked back to her room as he called, "Where are you going?"

Wanda stumbled into her room and pulled out her phone and started to dial Clint's number. Even though she knew it by heart, it took her two times before she finally got the numbers right and waited impatiently for the familiar voice. When his voicemail appeared she tried again as Sam walked into her room and opened the window to air out the toxic fume. He then walked over to Wanda who had already tried several times and even left a voicemail and Slovenian for him to come back.

"He isn't answering!" Wanda yelled out.

"He won't look at his phone until his mission is complete" Sam reminded her.

"Maybe I should try to find him telepathically" Wanda dropped the phone and shook out her arms.

Sam grabbed onto her arms to still her, "You're not strong enough. Even if you could the Chloroform most likely is making your powers unstable as well"

"Then what do we do!" Wanda yelled out before grabbing onto her head.

"We will look through the cameras and find out what happened last night" Sam said calmly, "Then we will track down where they could be hiding. We will find Bucky and Sheila and save them from whatever danger they're under"

Tears blurred Wanda's vision as she tried to fight back her tears. She didn't want anything bad to happen to both Bucky and Sheila. Wanda didn't want two more deaths to pile up on her list of Loved Ones Lost.

"How do we do that?" Wanda asked.

Sam stared into her eyes as he said, "As a team"

"And with just the two of us, we will attack HYDRA and get our friends out of there" Wanda stated skeptically.

"Not really" Sam said, "Once we get Sheila and Bucky out then there will be one pissed off siren and furious assassin"

"I hope you're right" Wanda nodded, "Let's just hope we get to them in time"

* * *

Sheila groaned as she turned and placed her hand on the side of her head, she hissed as she was aware now that a bump had formed near her temple. She opened her eyes and looked around to see she was in a cell with hardly any light. There was no bed, bench, or even a chair to sit on so she assumed that whoever brought her in there had just threw her down onto the ground. It certainly felt like whoever handed her into the room didn't really care about whether or not to be gentle with her body. She remembered the men suddenly ambushing her and Bucky as they tried to fight their way over to Sam and Wanda's rooms. The red octopus suddenly snapped into her mind as she remembered who was the organization that had taken her captive but more importantly, who they wanted.

"Bucky!" Sheila got up and ran towards the cell door and grabbed onto the bars, "Bucky!"

"Get back!" a female voice shouted, "Don't make me shoot you! Trust me, you are just a waste of our time don't think I won't do it"

A door opened at the end of the hall, making the woman suddenly stand up straighter and act like she hadn't even turned her head around. Sheila tried her best to peer down the hallway as she heard dress shoes make their way over to her cell. She heard the voice talking to the woman as she answered about her reports which were no doubt about Sheila. Blue eyes looked into the cell making Sheila shrink back as she noticed who this man was. She felt her throat constrict as the cell door unlocked as Alexander Pierce came in with two men in tow.

"Sheila Fiona Hallisay" Alexander Pierce said, "Didn't really take that long to figure out who you were"

"What do you want? Where's Bucky?" Sheila spit out.

"That's funny" Mr. Pierce stated, "He's been asking about you too"

"Where is he?" Sheila repeated.

"Sad, really" Pierce avoided the question, "The last I saw him he was a top soldier and great at what he did. He would get the assignment, assassinate anyone we wanted, and then placed back under cryo. No questions asked"

"That's because you programmed him not to. You turned an innocent human being into some toy to clean up the shit you were too scared to touch" Sheila glared.

"Well, that too" Pierce nodded, "But now he is just a sick puppy dog who needs to be put down"

"You wouldn't" Sheila took a step closer to him but all the guns in the room aimed at her, "Don't hurt him, please"

"There's another coincidence again" Pierce chuckled as he waved his hand to make everyone lower their weapons, "Whenever your precious, what did you call him again? Buck-y? Anyways! He wouldn't do anything I said, even let himself be slapped around a couple of times but he remained still as a stone. All he asked, was for me not to hurt you. My perfect soldier has turned into a man with no sense of direction"

"I agree, he was a perfect soldier" Sheila nodded, "And still is. He's just is tired of listening to sick, delusional, spineless people like the ones HYDRA is so obsessed with"

A man standing to Pierce's right quickly picked up his gun again and aimed it at Sheila. She didn't move as Pierce quickly brought up his hand and ordered the man to stand down. Sheila knew that if Bucky figured out if anything bad happened to her, everyone in this building would be in danger. By the look on Pierce's face, he also knew about that danger as well.

"You're a smart girl" Pierce stated, "But also impulsive as well. I believe that will be your downfall. We'll see what will happen in due time"

Sheila looked at Pierce more closely, "What do you mean by that?"

Pierce smirked as he turned around and signalled for the person on his right to do something. He waved up his gun to the low light and fired. The spark lit up the whole room, causing Sheila's eyes to become blind almost instantly.

"Aah!" she screamed out as she fell to the floor and clutched her eyes.

She whimpered at the feeling as she heard someone laugh as they left the room. The cell door closed behind them and locked as Sheila slowly moved herself to the corner as her eyes went haywire because the feeling burned on the inside.


	17. Weakness

_Bang!_

Bucky straightened up and stiffened at the same time as his body became alert to the loud sound. Not even a second after hearing the gunshot, Bucky heard a female scream which he only knew could belong to one person.

Bucky got up and tried to charge at the door but stopped short within the middle of the room. He turned and looked over to the chains that were holding him back as he growled in frustration. The door to the cell he was in unlocked as Pierce came in, sighing like as if he had a long day.

"What did you do to her?" Bucky said in a low voice.

"Showed her her weakness" Pierce responded back.

Bucky glared at him, "When I get out of these chains, I'm going to snap every bone in your body"

"By all means" Pierce waved out his arms, "Give me your best shot"

Bucky huffed as he shook his head, "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Actually, I'm not. I don't want to do any of this. I didn't even want to involve that poor girl in the other room" Pierce mocked sympathy, "I just want everything to return to the way it was before. To be back at SHIELD, fighting for HYDRA, and having you as my right hand man. I didn't want it to come down to this but you refused to come willingly so I took Ms. Hallisay as a hostage instead"

Bucky smirked, "If everything was back to normal I would've been a 98 year old World War II veteran by now. Not some puppet to be put back on the shelf for another 17 years. You think I actually want to be put under Cryo-Freeze for that long? I actually have a better plan for when I get out of here. We'll see how you like to be frozen in time and not knowing when you will breathe fresh air again"

"Unbelievable! You're probably the only person in this world that actually wants to grow old" Pierce stated, "Well, you and Captain America, I presume. But we don't have to worry about him anymore"

"What are you talking about? You did something to him, I know it! You were the reason why he left in the first place!" Bucky tried to lunge at Pierce but the chains restrained him.

"Took us long enough" Pierce looked over his shoulder to the soldiers who shifted their weights, "But we finally got to him"

"He's not dead" Bucky whispered to himself, "You're lying. I know my enemies. They're all the same when it comes to trying to hurt people with lies of loved ones. I'm not falling for it"

Bucky tried to wrench his metal arm free but whenever his metal arm evolved to make itself stronger, the chains was faster. His arm went limp as he looked off into the distance and remembered falling from the train with Steve trying to reach out for him. Now he thought of when Steve fell from the Helicarrier and how deep in his gut, he couldn't let the man die. His breathing shuddered as he felt a heavyweight in his chest as he wondered if Pierce was telling the truth or not.

"You'll get over it" Pierce waved him off, "People live and die, it's the cycle of life. You'll cry about it for a week and then life goes on. The next mission will keep your mind off of that crap, trust me. You wouldn't even notice if Sheila was six feet under in a box as well"

"Don't say her name!" Bucky shouted out.

"Look at you!" Pierce snapped, "You're weak! You think about a girl rather than your duties"

"My duties are no longer with HYDRA, Pierce" Bucky glared.

"Are you so sure?" Pierce questioned.

"As long as I'm breathing, I will never join you" Bucky hissed, "I will fight until the day I see HYDRA in a pile of ash"

Pierce grabbed a staff from one of the soldiers and struck Bucky across the face, "Watch your mouth! Don't forget who created you from the ashes! We transformed your sorry carcass into a perfect soldier"

"And for that, I will keep fighting until I get my freedom" Bucky spit blood down at Pierce's shoe.

"Oh, you won't get freedom, you'll get tragedy. Starting with your little girlfriend" Pierce hissed.

Bucky glared, "You won't touch her. I'll protect her from all the shit you put me through"

Peirce glanced over to the soldiers, "Set it up. Bring the girl as well. Let's give these two love birds a show they'll never forget. That is, until I decide _who_ will be the one to forget"

"No! You can't wipe her mind!" Bucky yelled out, "She can't go through with the process! She'll die!"

"What do I care?" Pierce shrugged, "She shouldn't have tried to get to know you in the first place. You're a ticking time bomb that eventually will go off. I guess we'll see what will happen in a few hours now won't we?"

Bucky opened his mouth to respond back but Pierce turned around and walked out of the cell with his lackey's in tow. Bucky let out a yell of fear and anger as he found himself stuck in yet another loop he didn't want to be in. He didn't want to ever feel the pain that courses through his head of getting his memories wiped ever again, but to have Sheila do it instead of him will kill him to see her in that much pain.


	18. Shock

Sheila was roughly pushed into a room with her hands bound and a device around her neck. The device was giving off vibrations to her throat, causing her to not scream in case she wanted to manipulate sound waves again. In the room was Bucky strapped with chains on his arms, he looked scared as his eyes remained glued to a black chair. When he noticed that Sheila had entered the room he tried to run to her but the chains pulled him back to where he was before. Sheila tried to call out to Bucky but the collar just made her gag as the feeling was unusual to her body. She was pushed to the other side of the room as Pierce stood in the middle with his jacket off.

"Great, we're all here! Now let's get started" Pierce smiled.

He turned around and nodded to the scientist behind him who started to switch on the machine. Sheila faltered back a step as she realized what that device was and why Bucky was so scared of it. A man roughly pushed Sheila toward the chair, making Sheila trip and try to fight her way away from the machine. Another man pinned her to the chair and strapped her in as Bucky was screaming at the top of his lungs. A snap made Sheila sit all the way back as she saw through a blurry vision the pieces to cover her head slowly start to come over to her.

"Stop!" Bucky demanded, making the machine stop in place, "Let me take her place"

Pierce turned to Bucky, "You would sit on that chair again for her? I know how brutal it is for you"

"Exactly" Bucky looked over to her, "I'd rather go through with it than have her die in that chair. You win"

Pierce turned to Sheila and knelt down before her, "It's your lucky day, little lady. Bring her back to her cell"

"As you wish" the scientist unlocked Sheila's chair, "You can take her now"

Sheila was roughly pulled out of the chair as Bucky walked willingly over to the black chair. She reached out and grabbed onto his hand in which Bucky squeezed on tight. He looked to her eyes as she shook her head roughly, urging him to fight. Bucky gave her a weak, terrified smile as he let go and sat down in the chair as the soldier pushed her out of the room.

"Wait a minute" Pierce told the soldier, "I want her to see this"

The man turned her around and made her stand still as Bucky bit onto a mouthguard in an almost routine manner. The machine whirred back to life as Bucky was snapped back as his breathing started to quicken. He looked over to her as the headpiece came over his eye as if he wanted to cherish his last memory of her.

Bucky then let out a blocked scream in agonizing pain as Sheila dropped down to her knees and sobbed, even though it hurt to move her throat. Bucky was grabbing onto the arm straps for dear life as his screams became more tormenting to hear as the soldier dragged her out of the room.

* * *

Sam typed in a code as he replayed the footage of how HYDRA came into the facility, obviously turning off all alarms but the codes change every month for protection. Someone who had recently worked here must've been working for HYDRA all along and manipulated the rest of SHIELD's agents to walk so the building would be less crowded. Sam typed in a facial recognition code in hopes of finding the double crosser. A crash suddenly echoed throughout the empty halls as Wanda screamed at the top of her lungs. Sam quickly grabbed onto his gun and ran over to the sound of the screams to see Wanda in the middle of the hall, clutching her head. He ran over to her side and grabbed onto her as he tried to calm the young girl down as she panicked and thrashed around in his arms.

"Boli!" Wanda yelled out, (It hurts)

"Hey, come on, Wanda, talk to me in English, girl" Sam comforted her as she opened her eyes.

Wanda looked up to him, "We need to get to Sheila and Bucky, now! Bucky is getting his memory wiped"

"What?!" Sam blinked.

"I was trying to work on my connection with the two of them in hoping that I would be able to find out where they were" Wanda let out.

Sam shook his head, "I told you not to do that"

"I had to, you were taking too long" Wanda whimpered.

"And you nearly got yourself killed doing that!" Sam scolded her.

Wanda glared at him, "Did you forget the part where I told you that Bucky is getting his memories wiped as we speak?!"

Sam replied back, "No, but if you weren't strong enough then you would've brought yourself into a coma and then I would have to go down to HYDRA with only **my** set of guns blazing"

Wanda slowly got up, "But without me you wouldn't have been able to know where to go"

Sam stared at her, "You found out where they're being held?"

Wanda slowly nodded as she held onto the side of her head. Sam felt a light feeling course through him as hope restored through his veins. Together, the two ran over to the locker room and went their separate ways to their own uniforms. Sam opened up a case and stared at his pair of wings and goggles that were begging to be put on. He inhaled as he glanced down to the picture in the corner with him and Riley arm-in-arm smiling at the camera, a week before his death.

"I'm not going to let that happen again" Sam whispered with tears in his eyes, "I promise"


	19. Dark Matter

" _Help. Someone, please"_ Sheila whispered.

"Shut up" the man in front of her door said, "No one in this building gives a shit about your well-being"

" _Bucky"_ Sheila whimpered out, " _Where are you? I need you"_

"Damn romantic fool" the man scoffed, "You don't get it. He probably doesn't remember you. You're nothing to him now"

" _I don't believe you"_ Sheila gagged, " _His memories came back once, he can do it again"_

The man laughed, "I'd like to see you try to convince him"

Sheila stopped as she knew she had to get out of the cell in order to try and find Bucky herself. She reached up and grabbed onto the black device and winced as she could still feel the prickling feeling course through her throat. She looked up to the man who was standing in front of her cell as she wondered what would make him mad. Just because they placed a device on her throat to not let her emit sound waves through her vocal chords doesn't mean that her power source is strictly from that. She had to make this man angry and direct some sort of sound to her. Sheila knew exactly what would make him displeased.

" _You are all just a joke, you know that?"_ Sheila croaked.

"Is that right?" the man questioned, "Why is that?"

" _I used to be scared of what the people behind HYDRA would do to me"_ Sheila explained, " _But now that I see you. I realize that I really have nothing to can't even get shit done without Bucky under your command"_

"Believe me, lady, you don't even know what we did without him" the man growled.

Sheila tried her best to scoff herself but she ended up gagging before she commented, " _Any chance that was within this timeline? Or maybe when Captain America didn't come around and spoil your plans? Something you actually did without people knowing about it?"_

"You better watch your mouth before I come in there and beat it out of you" the man said over his shoulder.

" _And now you are threatening a woman"_ Sheila stated, " _How low can HYDRA go on recruiting their men?"_

The man turned around and slammed his bo stick onto the cell bars making the sound echo into her cell like a clock striking midnight. She made the soundwaves visible as they came closer and closer until they reached her collar. The sound was just enough to break the collar off of her neck as it fell down to the ground. She gasped in free air as she relished on not feeling a tight control over her windpipes. There was only one more thing left to do.

Sheila outstretched her hands and let out a tremendous scream as it crashed into the walls and the door in front of her. The sound was so loud that even Sheila herself was having trouble hearing over it . The walls slowly started to crack as the high-end cement and metal deteriorated in just a matter of seconds. The walls suddenly exploded with the cell door flinging itself into the other room.

Sheila dropped her hand down, "Finally! Thought that wouldn't work for a little bit"

Sheila stepped outside of her cell and looked around at the damage she seemed to have caused. The man who she taunted laid down right by the door with his eyes open, blood poured out from his eyes and ears. She looked down the hall to see other HYDRA agents laid dead on either end of the hallway.

Even though she shouldn't feel this way, Sheila felt powerful in the wrong way as her destruction seemed to prove to herself how powerful she can be. It felt almost unlike her as she wanted to go around and hurt every single one of these people for aligning themselves with this organization.

Sheila turned to the right and started down the hall back to where the laboratory was.

She picked up a gun from a female soldier as she heard voices coming her way. She raised up her weapon and fired at the first man she saw, the sound waves traveled with the bullet at a fast pace. The bullet hit the man in the throat as the rest of his team was slammed into the wall. Sheila knew exactly where to go. The agents didn't even bother to blindfold her when they took her out of her room. Their mistake.

A woman appeared out of nowhere and threw a punch to Sheila's face. She staggered back a little bit but quickly blocked another punch and grabbed the gun from the woman's hand before she had a chance to fire it. Sheila kneed her in the stomach and slammed the butt of her gun to the back of the woman's head.

Sheila quickly started to move as sirens erupted from the building.

" _ **Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"**_ a female voice sounded from up above.

Sheila rolled her eyes, "Took them long enough to figure that out"

Sheila peeked around the corner as she noticed more HYDRA agents running around. She furrowed her eyebrows as she wondered why they weren't running toward her cell if the alarm went off. For once, she felt like luck was on her side as she quickly ran down the hallway until almost halfway down, she thrust herself into a door on the left to see the black chair and a man with brown shoulder length hair standing in front of it.

"Bucky" Sheila let out.

He narrowed his eyes, "Who the hell is Bucky?"

Sheila slowly shook her head as she took a step forward towards him, "Bucky, it's me… Sheila"

"I know who you are" Bucky responded, "Your name is Sheila Fiona Hallisay"

Sheila smiled, "Then you do remember me"

Sheila took a step closer to him but then slowly stopped as she noticed that there was something different about him. His eyes were in a set glare, his jaw tight, and his poise ready. Her heart sank for a moment as she realized that maybe the agent was right about the procedure. This man in front of her wasn't the Bucky that she had grown to love and shelter at his weakest moments. She knew that she could get through to him, she had to. Sheila knew that Bucky was inside there wanting to break free like the way he always has been since World War II.

"You are part of my mission" Bucky stated.

Sheila furrowed her eyebrows, "What do you mean? Why am I part of your mission?"

"My mission is to kill you" Bucky answered back.

Bucky took out his gun and fired at Sheila as she shrieked and dodged left to take cover behind a massive computer. She gasped as the gunfire continued to destroy her shelter behind the machines. Sheila jumped as she crawled further into the small tunnel, scared out of her life. She glanced down at her gun as she bit her lip, not wanting to use it. Sheila slowly sighed as she jumped up, aimed her gun at Bucky, and reluctantly fired back.


	20. Fight to the End

Wind whistled around him as the Falcon aimed his guns and fired them off onto the rooftop of HYDRA's location as he watched agents fall down onto the ground. Once he got close to the ground, he flipped himself up and landed gracefully onto the landing but, of course, not as nimble as his partner who landed almost like a ballerina. Falcon looked around the building and noticed that there were three different stairwells to take, he turned to the telepath to ask which way when something made him ask a different question.

Falcon gripped onto the Scarlet Witch's arm, "What's wrong?"

Scarlet Witch shuddered, "Bucky's mind is completely wiped and his mission is to kill Sheila"

"We need to get over there now!" the Falcon urged.

The Scarlet Witch shook her head, "We have no time for that and it would be the wrong move, you know that"

Falcon's jaw tightened, "Please tell me you are not suggesting something I don't want you to do"

Scarlet sighed, "I have to enter the Winter Soldier's mind and hope to trigger any sense of recollection of Sheila"

The Falcon was about to argue with her when Scarlet Witch's eyes glowed a red color as she whipped out her hand and sent energy bolts to one stairwell. The alarm erupted underneath them, slimming down his teammates time to find any sense of the old Bucky within the Winter Soldier's mind. The good news was that there was only one way up to reach Falcon and the Scarlet Witch, the bad news was that there were three different entrances and only Falcon will not only have to hold them off but protect his teammate as well. If they tried to find Bucky and Sheila wherever they were in the building, it could trigger more of a setback and force Bucky into a more defensive mode. There safest bet was what Scarlet Witch was proposing. The Falcon turned and fired off his gun at another entrance, still not wanting to believe that he was going to put this early 20's woman in danger.

"Do it quickly" Falcon said hesitantly.

"I will cast a force field around us while I try to bring him back" Scarlet responded.

"Not enough time for that! You need all over your energy to help you in bringing our teammate back" Falcon objected.

Scarlet didn't even once hesitate as she nodded, "Cover me"

The Scarlet Witch inhaled, closed her eyes and seemed almost in a trance as her power slowly moved around her as if it was setting her on fire. Falcon stood in front of her as best as he could to block any sort of weapon that could be aimed at her.

Falcon whispered, "I hope you break him out of it before he kills her"

A door suddenly opened right in front of him as HYDRA agents came out in a pack of groups. The Falcon shot them down as much as he could. Luckily, the staircase was narrow so they would come out one at a time which was more than easy for the Falcon to handle. A shot fired and narrowly missed his head, he glanced back and noticed that the Scarlet Witch was still in her meditative state. He turned back around and flew over to the stairwell and kicked the rest of the HYDRA agents down as he closed the door. He silently chuckled to himself as he used the weight of the fallen agents to barricade the door before he quickly moved back over to his partner.

"I can see them" Wanda gasped out, "They're already fighting"

"Does he recognize Sheila?" Falcon asked.

"No, he is slightly confused as to why she's saying his name but isn't curious about it" the Witch informed.

Falcon sighed, "What about her face, voice, anything!"

"It was Pierce who told him to not be surprised if he recognizes her" Scarlet said in a darker tone.

Falcon muttered, "He's taking that traitor's advice"

Scarlet shuddered, "Sheila's terrified. She's not fighting like how she's been trained she's fighting for her life. She's trying not to lose but Bucky has a lot more fighting experience than any one of us combined. There's nothing that he's giving off. I can't find anything!"

Falcon turned to her, "Just calm your mind and stay inside the Winter Soldier's head, something will slip through eventually"

"I'm trying" The Witch groaned.

Falcon heard the stairwell to another door open as he urged his teammate, "Do not give up on him so easily, Scarlet Witch, otherwise, Sheila is as good as dead!"

* * *

Sheila yelped as she ducked her head down to avoid being punched by Bucky's metal arm. She kicked him in the side of his knee and punched his throat as hard as she could. The man before her only moved slightly and let out a growl of frustration. Sheila whimpered as she backed up away from him like as if he was a crazed animal.

Sheila whispered, "Please remember me"

Bucky slowly got up, "Why do you keep repeating that? I don't know you"

"Because you _do_ know me" Sheila pleaded.

Bucky narrowed his eyes, "I think I would recognize someone if I knew them. You're just as manipulative as Pierce said"

Sheila shook her head, "You've got it all wrong"

"Then tell me something that only I would know" Bucky responded.

"You don't remember anything, only what Pierce told you about me because your memory has been wiped" Sheila informed him.

Bucky stared at her as he tried to place her in where he has seen her in any time of his missions. He did have a feeling that he knew her from somewhere but didn't know where to pinpoint this woman in front of him. Pierce had told him that she was a double crossing agent who was really persuasive in her skills of communicating. What he didn't understand was that why did Pierce want him to stay in the laboratory when this agent could've just easily have escaped the building. From what he remembered, the laboratory was in the opposite direction of the exits. Bucky balled up his fists again as he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind.

Bucky stated, "You're my mission"

Bucky was about to tackle her to the ground when Sheila let out a shriek and sent the soundwaves to make Bucky slam into a bunch of machines.

Sheila tried again, "I am your friend, your teammate, and your-"

Bucky looked to her, "My what? What else do I mean to you?"

Sheila wanted to say his girlfriend but she honestly didn't know where they stood even before HYDRA came and took them away.

Sheila swallowed and shook her head, "Nothing. I just have a deep connection with you"

"I doubt it. I could never love someone like you" Bucky countered.

"Oh" Sheila let out.

Sheila was caught by surprise as Bucky threw a piece of metal over to her direction. She gasped and dodged it but ended up being in Bucky's line of fire as he tackled her to the ground. Sheila felt her head bounce off of the floor as she groaned and felt a metal hand cover her mouth. Her eyes went wide as she noticed that he was getting ready to finish his job. Sheila grabbed onto his pants and pulled out a knife that she knew he kept hidden there and stabbed him on the leg.

Bucky slammed his eyes shut, "Aah!"

"I'm so sorry" Sheila said as he rolled off of her.

"What?!" Bucky looked to her in bewilderment.

Bucky let out a yell as he yanked the blade out of his leg and ran after her one more time. Sheila quickly grabbed onto his wrist to try and stop him as he slammed her into the wall. She struggled under his strength as his body quickly overpowered her. The blade came closer and closer to her neck as Bucky only stared at her jugular vein in hopes of placing his blade in there.

Sheila yelled out, " _ **Bucky! Let go!"**_

The power of her voice knocked the blade right out of his hands and slid it to the other side of the room.

Bucky then flipped her body around and wrapped his metal arm tightly around her neck as he placed his back to the wall. Sheila tried to writhe out of the position but felt herself being completely stuck. She tried to gasp out air but couldn't feel anything pull through as Bucky placed his hold tighter against her small neck.

Sheila felt her head suddenly become dizzy as she was losing focus of what was going on around her. Her fingers started to trail down Bucky's arm as her vision faded to black.

Her body became limp as the last thing she heard was Bucky taking in her scent.


	21. Released

The Scarlet Witch sniffed in and took in a woody and slightly sweet balsamic scent that gave off a wave of strength through her. Scarlet almost didn't realize that the smell was coming off of the Winter Soldier's senses and not hers. The feeling was so faint but powerful that it gave Bucky the curiosity she needed to open up his mind. She could feel him now really trying to figure out for himself how he came to be accustomed to her scent. Somehow, the scent of Sheila's lotion gave off some sort of trigger as she opened her eyes and stared off into space. She felt almost like as if her mind zoomed in as Bucky's memories of Sheila, the Avengers Facility, and HYDRA's attack came back into his mind.

"Got it!" The Witch yelled out.

"You found something?" Falcon turned to her.

She looked over to her friend, "Sheila's lotion, he remembers the scent"

"So you did it" Falcon questioned.

"Yes" Scarlet Witch smiled.

Falcon let out a laugh and hugged her, "Atta girl! I knew you had it in you! I'm pretty sure they're making out already!"

Scarlet laughed too until she slowly stopped and focused back in on the couple that must be a couple of floors down. She could feel Bucky's emotions so strong it almost felt like a slap in the face to her. Sheila's, she couldn't feel or sense anything. The Witch felt tears brim to her eyes as she recognized the feeling that Bucky was surrounding himself with right now. It was the same feeling that she had experienced when she had felt Pietro's bullets shot through his body.

The Scarlet Witch gasped, "Oh, god! Not again. What did I do wrong?"

"What is it?" Falcon asked her.

Scarlet bowed her head down, "It's Sheila. I can't feel anything"

Falcon took a step back, "What does that mean? What are you saying?"

The Witch tried again but all she felt was regret, panic, and sorrow fill her up on the inside. Bucky's emotions were reeking her mind with so many negative things that she couldn't focus onto Sheila. She couldn't escape the feeling of Bucky's metal arm tight around her neck as Sheila had lost consciousness. The Scarlet Witch was so wrapped up in freeing Bucky that she forgot to check in on Sheila to make sure the woman was alright.

"She's gone" Scarlet whispered.

Falcon stared at the Witch for the longest time, as if that would make her sense something else and assume that she was wrong. A tight ball in his throat seized into him as he watched the Scarlet Witch sob as she collapse down onto the ground. He was at least grateful that he had his glasses on, otherwise, the young woman would definitely see that he was crying also.

Falcon whispered, "We need to figure out where they are"

"I can't believe I failed again" Scarlet let out.

"It wasn't your fault. You needed something to trigger back Bucky's memories" Falcon croaked out, "We didn't know what extent that would be in"

The Witch sobbed, "She was like a big sister to me"

"Don't do that to yourself, girl. Just because you thought of her as family doesn't mean it sent her to her deathbed" Falcon objected, "It wasn't your fault. You did the best you could"

"But my best wasn't enough" The Scarlet Witch shook her head.

Scarlet sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her palm but something made her stop mid-way as a new feeling came over her. She looked up to the Falcon almost in a tired way and he regretted to want to know what the woman was feeling.

Falcon shook his own head, "What is it now?"

The Witch swallowed, "We have a problem. This isn't going to be good"

"This day just keeps getting better as the seconds pass by. What's the bad news?" Flacon asked.

Scarlet Witch objected, "It's reinforcements"

"Then we need to keep moving. We need to find Bucky and Sheila and get out before this place is crawling with HYDRA agents" Falcon commanded, "We can mourn Sheila later. When we're all safe. Can you tell where Bucky is?"

Scarlet stopped him, "I didn't say it was HYDRA's reinforcements"

"I don't get it. What's the problem then?" Falcon questioned.

The Witch was about to tell her teammate when the Falcon stiffened as he looked over the young woman's shoulder.

"Oh" he muttered, "I see"


	22. May I

Bucky gasped as his arms dropped down to his sides as his mind felt like it was exploding from inside him. The scent of Sheila made his mind expand and remember everything from arriving to the Avengers Facility, his friends, and Sheila. He took in a couple of breaths as he took this moment to let it all sink in that he could remember once again. Bucky smiled and glanced down to Sheila and stopped as he suddenly felt sick to his stomach. Sheila was lying just under him with a ruby red mark along her neck with her eyes closed. Bucky crouched down next to her and started to shake the woman violently.

"Sheila?" Bucky whispered.

He shook his head slowly as he picked up the small body of Sheila and had her face him. His lower lip quivered, tears filled his eyes, and his throat became sore as he realized what he has done. He placed his metal arm to the back of her head and brought his lips down to the top of her head. Bucky let out a sob as he kissed her, hopefully bringing her back to the conscious world. He didn't want to admit it but Sheila felt like she was giving off dead weight already which made him fear what he has done even more.

"Please wake up for me. I didn't mean to do this" Bucky said in a tight voice.

Bucky was sobbing uncontrollably now. He had found love and lost it, and it was so much more than he had ever imagined, and the pain was unbearable. She was feared, but she was beautiful, the most beautiful thing he had ever known, and now he couldn't tell her how he loved her eyes and her mouth and her small nose, her shy kindness and the way she walked and her delicate hands, because she had slipped away. His eyes were swimming with tears as he came to realization that she had gone.

He cried, "I love you. Please come back to me. I'm so sorry"

He looked down to her as if words would bring her back when the world was melting with grief and his heart bursting with pain, and it was to late and he felt himself slipping down and dissolving into sorrow. A teardrop slipped down and fell to her cheek and slid down as if she was crying herself. Bucky wished that he could've snapped out of it sooner than he had, otherwise, he would've been able to stop himself from killing her.

"I love you" he repeated, "I wanted to tell you that night I went to your room. I wish I did. Maybe that would've given me enough connection to remember you"

Bucky traced a finger down her face as he stared down at her. He looked over to his metal arm and glared down at it, if he could rip it off of his socket, he would.

"I sometimes wish that they never chosen me as their secret weapon. There were at least 75 other good soldiers I'm sure I've known that would've been a better candidate than me. What I would give to be the one on my deathbed right now. But in a way, I'm glad I was chosen. Otherwise, I would've never met someone as beautiful and as strong of a woman as you" Bucky told Sheila.

Bucky then glanced down to the red mark wrapped around her neck as he remembered how to felt to have her struggle to breath under his arm.

"And now look at what I've done. I took one of the most beautiful creatures in this world and snatched her out of this place of existence. I'm a murderer and will always be" Bucky sobbed as he nuzzled himself under her neck like he did a couple night before, "Sing to me. Just one last time. Make me feel human again"

"Bucky?"

Bucky picked up his head to look at Sheila but she still looked the same as she did moments before. Instead, someone slowly edged into the room and made his way over to Bucky. Wearing a mask, a blue uniform, and a shield with a huge star in the middle.

"I didn't mean to" He said in a voice that didn't sound like his own.

Steve Rogers nodded as he bent down next to his best friend, "I know, you were wiped again"

Bucky held Sheila tighter to him, "I should've fought harder for her. She wouldn't be dead if I fought for our survival"

"You didn't because you knew that if you rebelled they would've killed her" Steve placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder.

"Look at what good that came from it" Bucky huffed a dry laugh but his energy wasn't in it.

"Bucky, listen to me" Steve said in a calm but firm voice, "I need for you to hand over Sheila"

Running footsteps made the men both turn as Hawkeye ran through the room, "Where is she?"

Captain America turned and attempted to stop Hawkeye as he grabbed a hold of the man as Hawkeye writhed out of his arms. His blue eyes zeroed in on Sheila as he let out an inhuman-like wail that caught Captain America by surprise. He let the man slip through his grasp as Hawkeye ran over to his childhood friend and collapsed down onto the ground. Hawkeye stared at Sheila as he encouraged her to wake up. Bucky only sat stone-still as he watched the man bow down his head and mourned for the woman. Hawkeye stiffened as he glanced down to her neck and looked at Bucky's metal arm cradling her body.

"How could you have let this happen?" Clint said in a dark tone.

Steve spoke up, "Hawkeye, he wasn't aware of his actions. You heard what the Scarlet Witch had said"

"It was Pierce" Bucky said as he finally remembered why he was here in the first place, "He made me do this"


	23. Revenge

Alexander Pierce flipped through the last of his documents and pages as he placed them within his briefcase. He was supposed to be leaving around 3 or 4 in the morning but the sound of the intruder alert has upped the flight to right about now. He knew that SHIELD would find him eventually but keeping his identity dead was the most important piece right now. Pierce picked up his briefcase, turned around, and nearly took out his gun when he realized that he wasn't alone in the room. The Winter Soldier was standing in the room with him, his face stone-walled and calm as he waited for Pierce to speak. Pierce let out a light laugh as he placed his gun back into its holster.

"I trust that your mission is complete?" Pierce questioned.

"The subject is dead" The Winter Soldier replied.

"Good" Pierce made his way over to the Winter Soldier.

Winter Soldier asked, "Do you want a full mission report?"

Before Pierce could answer, running footsteps approached the room as someone yelled out, "Bucky, no!"

Pierce pulled out his gun but the Winter Soldier was already within reaching distance. He grabbed a hold of Pierce's gun as the man fired down. Pierce screamed out as he realized that he accidentally shot his leg. Bucky threw the man to the other side of the room, sending him crashing into the wall with a sickening thud. Bucky marched over to Pierce but was side-tackled by Captain America as he restrained his friend from hurting Pierce anymore.

"Let go of me!" Bucky yelled out.

Captain held onto him tighter, "She wouldn't want you to do this!"

Bucky let out a yell as he flung Captain America off of him, he turned to his friend and punched him in the face with his metal arm. Steve was thrust to the ground by the force as Bucky took this chance to finish the job on Pierce. He picked up the older man with his metal hand and pushed him into the wall once more. Pierce let out a painful cry as he could feel his bones bending under the pressure.

"You made me kill her!" Bucky yelled out, "She's done nothing to you! You gave me your word that you wouldn't harm her!"

"But I didn't harm her" Pierce responded, "You did…"

Steve spoke up behind Bucky, "Don't listen to him. It wasn't you"

"Sheila must've thought that you were still you deep down inside that dark soul of yours" Pierce taunted.

Bucky made a face as he broke Pierce's collarbone, making the man scream out in agonizing pain. Steve shuddered as he walked over to his best friend and placed a hand on his arm.

"You can't kill him" Steve said softly.

"No" Bucky admitted, "I can't"

The ex-assassin knelt down to Pierce crying on the floor, "Death is too rewarding for him"

He reached out and grabbed the man by his shirt and started to drag him out of the room. Steve walked up to him, in an attempt to intervene but Bucky pushed him aside. Steve didn't know what his best friend was planning on doing but he followed the man down the hall and away from the laboratory where Clint and Sheila were. Steve furrowed his eyebrows together as he continued to follow them, wondering where Bucky was remembering what room to put him in. Pierce seemed to recognize the place where they were headed as he thrashed about trying to get out of Bucky's grasp but he was too strong. Bucky opened up a door as it revealed an upward like coffin with a vacant spot left waiting for someone to be put in.

"Please, don't!" Pierce yelled out.

"Why?" Bucky snapped, "Because you're afraid of spending God knows how many years locked up in an ice cube? Steve and I have done it before, it feels like nothing… but an eternal sleep that you can't wake yourself up from"

"Bucky" Steve spoke up.

Bucky ignored him as he picked up Pierce by the throat and lifted him high above the ground. The man was in pain and terrified as he realized that he had no control of what is about to happen next. Bucky was in too much rage to be calmed down by Steve as he watched helplessly as his friend thrust the man into the hell that he had to call his bed. Bucky closed Pierce into the box as the man screamed from inside of the coffin just as Steve tried to turn Bucky around.

"Don't do it!" Steve yelled out.

"It's not about me anymore!" Bucky argued, "This is about what he did to Sheila"

"Bucky..."

He suddenly stopped as he felt his blood run as cold as ice as he slowly turned around to the entrance of the room. Clint was standing in the doorway supporting someone who was too weak to stand at the moment. The person in his arms and staring back at Bucky was Sheila.


	24. As A Team

"Sheila?" Bucky asked, "Is it really you?"

"Yes" Sheila nodded.

"CPR does wonders" Clint commented.

Bucky ran from his spot and was about to go over and embrace Sheila in a tight hug but stopped. He didn't know if she feared him or not. Her last memory of him was of Bucky trying to kill her. Sheila broke away from Clint and wobbled over to Bucky and forced herself into his embrace. She held onto him and gripped onto the ends of his hair as she burrowed her face into his neck. Bucky slowly wrapped his arms around her as tears brimmed his eyes.

Steve couldn't help but look away at the sign of affection that the two were sharing with one another. He had seen Falcon and the Scarlet Witch embrace in a victory hug on the rooftop moments before but this felt like something more. He knew that the stakes were high when Sheila was fighting Bucky but there was something underneath that. It was the type of embrace that Steve would've given to Peggy if he had come from from deactivating the bomb. He looked over and nodded to Clint for doing the right thing in attempting to bringing Sheila back.

"I thought I lost you" Bucky whispered.

Clint spoke up, "If she wasn't an Enhanced Human then she probably wouldn't have survived"

"You didn't fully kill me so my body was slowly working it's way back to health" Sheila explained.

Steve smiled, "Looks like we all have something in common"

"Except me" Clint raised his hand, "I'm just a human"

Sheila turned around and smiled to her friend, "Thank you"

"Oh, come on" Clint joked, "All you needed was an extra push. I couldn't leave my friend to die. Not when you mean so much to everyone here. Wanda begged me to do something"

"Wanda?" Sheila questioned.

Steve nodded, "They're up on the rooftop with the other SHIELD agents"

"How did they find us?" Bucky asked.

"You gave her that answer and she followed you until she found a way to awake your memories" Steve explained.

"If it wasn't for Wanda…" Bucky mumbled, "I would still be trapped"

Almost as if on cue, Wanda and Sam came bursting through the door to see what was happening. When Wanda laid eyes on Sheila, she smiled tearfully and ran over to the other woman and embraced her in a hug. Sam smiled to Bucky and gave his hand a shake as he pat the man behind the shoulder. Wanda broke the hug and turned to Bucky as she surprised him with a hug as well.

Bucky lightly hugged her, "Thank you, Wanda. I wouldn't have broken out of the hold without you"

Wanda looked up to him, surprised that Bucky was even thanking her for helping him. She was about to say something when she looked over his shoulder and her face turned from joy into hate. Wanda made her way over to machine that held Pierce as the lights flickered from Wanda's power slowly becoming out of control.

"This is the man that wiped your mind?" Wanda asked in a menacing tone, "The one who ordered you to kill Sheila"

Bucky slowly nodded as the people in the room faced Alexander Pierce in his condensed space. Wanda let out a hiss as she moved her hand up to do something but Steve stopped her.

She dropped down her hand with a sigh as she turned and walked away from the machine.

Clint spoke up, "I think we should go, Steve, let them decide what to do with Pierce"

Steve turned and looked to Clint with bewilderment as he was about to object to Hawkeye's idea. Hawkeye only nodded to the group as Steve looked and noticed what Clint was seeing. Bucky, Sam, Sheila, and Wanda were all in a semi-circle each looking from one to another. He'd think that these four were the only ones in the room if Clint and Steve were watching from the outside. Even though Steve was still reluctant, he nodded, this was what they wanted the Avengers to be built up upon anyways. Steve placed his shield onto his back and made his way over to Clint as they edged out of the room.

"Right" Steve agreed, "You should decide as a team. Make sure that everyone is okay with the outcome. This isn't our mission, it never was. We'll be waiting on the rooftop"

Bucky looked over his shoulder to Steve as his blue eyes pierced into his soul. He nodded to his best friend as if trying to send him a message. The one thing that frustrates Bucky the most was that, he never received it. The Bucky Steve knew was still trapped in amnesia and probably would make a completely different call. This Bucky was the one that was forced into HYDRA's grasps as a mindless ape doing nothing but their bidding.

Hawkeye and Captain America left the room as they closed the door behind them, making the room seem even smaller. Sheila turned around and looked at her teammates as they seemed lost and confused about what should happen now. In each and everyone of them was a different outcome that they wanted to plan out. The only bigger question was: will they all compromise and be happy about this decision.

"We can't let him live" Wanda broke the silence, "If he's being taken into custody, SHIELD will just keep him until the day he dies"

"We can't kill him either" Sheila hated to admit.

"What do you think, Bucky?" Sam asked.

"You already know what I want to do" Bucky stated.

Sam sighed, "I usually don't go the killing route but we need to make sure to tie loose ends"

"Meaning?" Wanda asked.

Sam looked over to Sheila who was staring down the whole time until she felt Sam's eyes upon hers. He gave a nod over to the metal container as he knew what she wanted to do. Everyone else stared at Sheila as she sighed and walked over to where she could see Pierce's face. She placed a hand on top of the glass as a high pitch sound amplified inside of the case. Pierce suddenly seized up as he squirmed from the sound as it was unbearable for him to stand. Sheila stopped as Pierce cried out from pain as she made her way to the back of the room.

Bucky asked, "What did you do?"

"I made him deaf" Sheila stated, "I didn't have the heart to kill him"

Wanda looked over to Sam, "You wanted her to kill him?"

"I wanted her to try" Sam explained, "It's a lot easier to say you want to kill a man than actually do it. As much as I hate this guy, I don't want him to die. I just want him to feel what it's like to finally be on the opposite end of things. I think Bucky should do the honors"

"You're sure about this?" Bucky looked over to his friend.

Sam nodded, "Put him on ice"

Bucky turned and looked over to Pierce who was screaming from either pain or realization that he's deaf, Bucky didn't know. He walked over to the case as Pierce forced himself to look into Bucky's eyes. Bucky took the lever on the left and pushed it up as the familiar crackling sound came from the case. Pierce looked down and then was about to yell out something before he was suddenly frozen over. Bucky dropped his hand down and stared at the face, wondering how many leaders put him on ice when they knew it was the most inhumane thing to do.


	25. The Beauty and the Tragedy

The morning light was just about to rise high enough to the point where Sheila knew it would be safe to take her sunglasses off. For once, she actually wanted to keep them on throughout the rest of the day. If it helped her to remain hidden then she would wear them throughout the rest of the week. Clint approached the table she sat at and placed oatmeal, a glass of water, and a vitamin in front of her. Sheila would've objected to it if her body hadn't had betrayed her and started to eat the bowl of hot cereal. She was at least grateful that Clint didn't tease her about her behavior and just sat quietly sipping on his cup of coffee as he read the morning newspaper.

"Feels like I haven't been here in forever" Sheila stated.

Clint spoke up from beside her, "Being held captive takes that toll on you"

"What's going to happen to the agents that went on strike?" Sheila had to ask.

"Nick Fury is going to have a few choice words with those people" Clint replied, "I definitely don't want to be those people right about now. Fury has a way about making people feel like they wished that he had just put a bullet through their brains"

Sheila didn't feel any sort of sympathy about them, "They had it coming. As a team we are supposed to be united as one"

Clint quickly objected, "But the four of you did exceptionally well. Better than what Steve and I were thinking of seeing when we came back"

Sheila thought back to how Steve and Clint looked when they were waiting for the team to come back onto the rooftop. It almost seemed like they forgot to breathe when they told the group that Pierce was on ice. She wondered if that was the decision that Clint would've wanted. She glanced up to him but decided to not ask what he would've done. Regardless of the outcome, she was happy that Pierce was learning what karma was like.

Sheila began, "I feel stupid. I should've fought back harder. I didn't even remember that I had special abilities until after Bucky got his memory wiped"

"It happens to the best of us" Clint leaned forward, "I forgot that I had a weapon in my hand when instead I tried running to the nearest exit"

Sheila let out a laugh as Clint chuckled with her. She could tell by his voice that Clint was telling the truth. She picked up her water and popped the vitamin into her mouth and drank the water. Clint seemed to smile wider as he leaned back and glanced down to his newspaper.

"I guess something weird always happens on people's first missions" Sheila commented.

Clint made a sing-song hum as he kept his mouth shut. Sheila scoffed as she looked down to her oatmeal and slowly started to eat it again. As much as she hated it, she knew Clint wasn't going to let her leave the room until she's finished her breakfast that he provided for her.

Bucky stared at his face in the reflection. The man staring back at him was a cold-blooded murderer who nearly took the life of someone he loved the most. The hair was curtaining around his face as if trying to swallow him up in darkness. He clenched his jaw so tightly that he felt it was close to breaking. He glanced up above him to the woman standing behind him. She seemed concerned and a little bit hesitant on what he had just said.

Bucky commanded, "Do it"

Wanda countered, "You're sure about this"

"I want you to cut off my hair" Bucky stated again, "I trust that you've already been inside my mind on wanting to know my reason"

Wanda glared at him, "Just making sure that this all isn't a trick"

Wanda then sighed as she draped a towel over his shoulder and flipped his shoulder-length hair out. She glanced back over to Bucky's reflection who seemed to be watching her prepare. Wanda glanced back down to the ex-assassins hair and started to play with it a little. She squinted her eyes slightly as she imagined a hairstyle upon hairstyle on him that would do. Wanda suddenly perked up as she picked up a water spray and started to wet his hair.

"How did you know how to do this?" Bucky asked, "I wasn't expecting you to know so much about cutting hair"

Wanda huffed, "Pietro would have longer hair than me if he was…"

"In a better place" Bucky replaced the sentence, "Watching over you"

"He always had his head in the clouds" Wanda smiled as she snipped off some hair, "It makes it a little bit better knowing that his body was also there as well"

"Fate has a way of making things entertaining for us" Bucky replied, "Who knew that Captain America's best friend was also going to wind up being reunited with him nearly 70 years later. That Sam would understand his need on wanting to help me out of HYDRA's grasp because of his best friend dying in front of him. We all have lost someone we cared about"

Wanda placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder for a moment, "I'm happy to know that I'm not treading this path alone"

"Let's talk about something else" Bucky quickly said.

"Right!" Wanda continued to cut his hair.

"Thank you" Bucky spoke up.

"For what?" Wanda asked.

"If you hadn't had sent Clint a voicemail, he probably wouldn't have come to both of our aids at HYDRA's base" Bucky replied back, "I heard that you were pretty occupied in trying to snap me out of it. Something would've gone wrong"

"I was scared at that moment and needed Clint's advice on what to do with the situation at hand" Wanda scoffed, "Don't tell that to Sam. Promise me you'll take that to the grave"

Bucky smiled at her through their reflection, "Not one word"


	26. The Past

Wanda smiled triumphantly, "There!"

"That's it?" Bucky questioned.

"That's all I want to do with your hair" Wanda wiggled her hands through his hair.

"I just thought that you would do more with the front" Bucky said, "It's different but still the same. Were you trying to make me look like how I did in World War II?"

"Somewhat" Wanda answered, "I wanted to blend both the World War II you and the HYDRA you into one hairstyle. To me it displays that both of your past defines you. You don't like it?"

Bucky turned his head to the side as he looked carefully, "At first, no. But after you explained it, I understand what you did. Very clever"

"Really?" Wanda smiled, "I didn't think you would like it. I just wanted to see if you would like it and if you didn't I would chop more of your hair off. Everyone will take a second glance with you. Including Sheila"

"I wasn't changing my look for her" Bucky looked up to the young woman.

Wanda huffed, "Sure it wasn't. I can see in your mind, remember? I saw the turning point as to why you wanted to change. You think that Sheila sees her killer walking down the halls instead of someone who she confides in. I could've told you that she doesn't think like that but you also had the HYDRA backstory that you wanted to get rid of"

Bucky gave a small smile as he ran his own hand through the newly styled hair. His hand was used to having his hair ends at the shoulders and was surprised when it didn't. You can see his eyes more clearly even though the strands of hair were longer in the front than they were in the back. He could see what Wanda did and she did it perfectly. Bucky didn't recognize the HYDRA secret weapon staring back at the reflection at himself. Even though it was a mash-up of two hairstyles, he felt that this was the new him.

"Thank you" Bucky told her.

"Don't mention it" Wanda paused, "Actually do tell everyone who cut your hair"

"I will make sure to mention it to everyone" Bucky commented.

"Good!" Wanda smiled, "Mind as well amaze everyone else in this facility"

Bucky quickly got up, "I'll help you clean up"

"Don't bother" Wanda waved her hand as the fallen hair moved to the trashcan.

Bucky looked down to the young woman, "Do you think she'll like it? I didn't tell her what I was going to do. Actually, I didn't tell anyone what I was planning on doing"

"There's only one way to find out" Wanda answered.

"I was afraid you were going to say something like that" Bucky replied, "Do you know where she is?"

Wanda answered without a moment's hesitation, "About to start her fighting practice"

Bucky stiffened, "Already?"

"Why does that surprise you?" Wanda questioned.

"She should be regaining her strength after what I did to her" Bucky answered.

"It was her decision" Wanda stepped up to him, "Stop blaming yourself for everything"

"Wouldn't you blame yourself for something like this?" Bucky countered, "I'm not like any of you. I can't outlive my past… I'm already going to outlive most people from my unit anyways"

"Listen to me" Wanda said firmly, "We captured all of the HYDRA agents that were in that building, froze over Pierce, and got both you and Sheila out safely. I feel like that is more of a victory than what normal people could accomplish"

"I was on my way to healing when HYDRA attacked" Bucky explained, "It was almost like a constant reminder of what would happen if she ever got into a relationship with me"

"Then make sure it doesn't happen again" Wanda hinted as she turned and walked out of his room, leaving the bedroom door wide open.


	27. New Training

Sheila wrapped her knuckles around and around as she felt the familiar grip of the protection over her bones. She couldn't deny the fact that she was a little bit nervous about coming back to training after missing so many days of it. She rolled her shoulders back just a little bit as she closed her eyes and tried to recall the advice Steve had given her on her last training session with him. The creaking of the door made Sheila open her eyes and turn around to greet her instructor. She didn't expect a buff man with short brown hair come into the room with one metal arm. Sheila couldn't help but gawk as she recognized the man as Bucky.

"You cut your hair" Sheila stated the obvious.

Bucky ran a hand through his hair, "I had to do something different"

Sheila smiled as she massaged the tips of the front of his hair, "I love it. I thought your training didn't start until 12. Steve is about to come in if you're looking for him"

Bucky objected, "He's not coming"

"Excuse me?" Sheila questioned, "Is he held up in a meeting or something? So does that mean that you are going to be watching over my training"

Bucky took in a breath, "You will be practice fighting with me for a while"

"Why?" Sheila scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion.

Bucky opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out as he chose to lick his lips and swallow as he looked away. Sheila slowly nodded to herself as she knew what was playing back in his recent memories. She slowly closed the space between them as she cupped his face and placed his forehead down onto hers. Bucky took in a sharp breath before he slowly relaxed and closed his eyes. She dropped down her hands and placed them on his chest as she tried to make him comfortable in this space.

"I'm doing this incase HYDRA ever wipes me again" Bucky whispered.

"I figured as much" Sheila sighed, "Will you be up for it?"

"I'm going to have to be. I'd rather know that I can control myself in hitting you now than knowing I won't have control in the future. I just want to be confident enough to know that you will be ready for that day" Bucky stated.

Sheila backed up, "I will be. Are you sure you want me to know your fighting weaknesses though?"

Bucky nodded, "I'd rather tell you than even Steve… let's get started"

* * *

Sheila dodged a punch from the metal arm and kicked Bucky in his side in order to send him away from her. He backed up a little bit and faced her, almost exactly how he had said his instincts would tell him to do. Bucky tried to kick Sheila but she used a counter attack that Bucky had taught her only moments before. She let out a shriek and let the soundwave pass him, bounce off of the wall, and come crashing into his back. Bucky grunted by the force but collided into Sheila in the process. His body weight was too much for her as she suddenly lost her balance and fell to the floor.

"Oof!" Sheila let out, "Okay, that was a bust. I was hoping to send you away from me rather than on top of me. I guess I'll need to work on that. Sorry about that"

"I think that's good enough for today" Bucky said as he got up.

Sheila watched as he stood over her and reached out to help her up. She smiled and took his hand as he helped her into a standing position. Sheila let out a breath as she glanced up to the clock and noticed that it was 11:05, she'd been fighting a lot longer than she would've. She walked over to the bench and collapsed onto the seat as she tried to catch her breath. Bucky came up beside her and handed her a water bottle as he too sat down beside her.

"Thanks" Sheila took a gulp of water, "I feel like I'm dying but you don't look like it. You're barely even panting. You're lucky"

Bucky smirked as Sheila still tried to catch her breath as she took another gulp from her water. Sheila let out an exaggerated sigh as she leaned into Bucky and placed her head on top of his shoulder. He stiffened a little bit but then relaxed as he leaned his head into the top of her head. He closed his eyes as he found comfort by the woman once more.

Sheila smiled when she felt him lean himself into her as he did only a couple of nights ago. She knew that this meant it was a working process for him to become comfortable with her once more. The warmth from his skin made her relax after going on for a while with some serious training.

Bucky reached around and placed an arm around Sheila's body and moved himself to the side. This time, Sheila was the one placing her head on his chest as he stroked her hair, just like the way she did.

Bucky spoke up, "How do you feel?"

"Happy, comforted, and loved" Sheila answered honestly even though she knew he was asking about their training, "We should do this more often"

Bucky tensed up, "Loved? By me? I didn't think I was capable of it. You just make it seem to be more easy. You never once judged me for my past and for that I think that's why I am more drawn to you. I just didn't think you felt the same way"

Sheila picked up her head, "You don't think you're capable of love? I would've never felt this way if it wasn't for you"

"I may never come to understand your logic. But for now, I'm okay with that" Bucky smirked.

Sheila placed her head back down onto his chest, "It's not logic, Bucky. It's a feeling"

"You seem to trust your feelings a lot" Bucky put in.

"Sometimes you need to trust your feelings more than logic" Sheila countered.

Bucky pet her hair, "I'm glad you think that way. I guess I can learn a thing or two from you"

"I'm glad we agree on something. So what do your feelings say right now?" Sheila asked.

Bucky stopped petting her hair, "I don't think I should say it. Let's talk about something else"

Sheila straightened herself up and turned to look at him with amusement on her face.

"Now I'm really curious" Sheila smiled, "Tell me"

Instead of telling her, Bucky straightened up as well, cupped her face and kissed her on the lips. Sheila gasped but didn't move back as Bucky planted small kisses on her lips. She leaned into him and kissed back as she felt all of a sudden warm as her cheeks started to show off a little blush. Sheila placed her hand on the side of his face as he worked one hand to the back of her head. Her body felt weak for a little bit as Bucky leaned back and had her leaning on top of him once again. Sheila felt Bucky trace his tongue across her lips before he broke the kiss and rested his forehead on top of hers.

Bucky whispered out, "You asked. Sorry. I just couldn't stop myself. I'm just glad that you kissed back. This would've been a lot more awkward if it didn't"

Sheila gasped out, "I'm glad I did. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten a kiss from you. Something that I am now very grateful I asked. I feel the same way, you know? I like you too. I didn't think you would like me. Not after how much you kept blaming yourself for HYDRA"

Bucky replied back, "I think I can put off HYDRA for a while now"

Sheila smiled, "Really?"

"Instead, I'll focus more on keeping you safe from them" Bucky shrugged, "And opening up about my feelings"

Sheila put in, "Great! I'm sure everyone will be curious to know that. Sam might even want to know about what you're thinking after that"

"I won't be too fond about that" Bucky admitted, "For now, let's just keep this between us. I just want there to be something between us for a while. Then we will tell them"

"I kind of like that idea" Sheila smiled.

"Come on" Bucky nudged, "Let's get something to eat"

"And some Advil" Sheila groaned as she straightened up.

"Did I hurt you that much?" Bucky took a hold of her hand, "Why didn't you say so?"

"I knew you would go easy on me if I told you" Sheila shrugged.

Bucky opened the door, "You should've at least told me"

Sheila looked up to him, "I will next time. I will let you know when I've reached my limit"

"Liar" Bucky teased.

"Could you blame me?" Sheila challenged, "I wouldn't have been fighting the Winter Soldier, I would've been fighting Bucky Barnes"

Bucky couldn't help but chuckle at what she said as he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder as Sheila wrapped an arm around his waist. The agents that walked by couldn't help but look surprised as the ex-assassin and siren walked down the hallway holding onto each other like that. Sam and Wanda peaked out from a room that they had passed as they watch Bucky place a kiss on top of Sheila's head once more. Once they turned the corner, Sam and Wanda looked to each other and fist bumped one another.

"It's about damn time" Sam joked, "I told you telling Cap that Sheila didn't feel good will give them the extra push"


	28. Soundtrack

_**Love Song Requiem- Trading Yesterday**_

 _ **Bring Me Down- Throwing Gravity**_

 _ **Seed- Stealing Eden**_

 _ **Right Now- Alex Band**_

 _ **Losing You- Dead By April**_

 _ **Change My Life- Ashes Remain**_

 _ **Dark Matter- Andrew Belle**_

 _ **May I- Trading Yesterday**_

 _ **The Beauty and the Tragedy- Trading Yesterday**_

 _ **Who Will Save You Now- Les Friction**_

 _ **Shattered- Trading Yesterday**_

 _ **Last Song For You- Our Waking Hour**_

 _ **Brush it Off- Plain Three**_

 _ **Time After Time- Quietdrive**_

 _ **Life Left to Go- SafetySuit**_

 _ **Another Red Light- David Hodges**_


End file.
